Student who sexually assaulted woman as she slept has sentence appeal dismissed

A Cork student’s appeal against his sexual assault sentence was dismissed, with the court upholding the conviction

Accused had appealed his headline sentence of five years but three Court of Criminal Appeal judges dismissed it. Picture: Larry Cummins

A student in bed with three others after a night out reached over and sexually assaulted another student as she slept, and on Tuesday he appealed the severity of a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence, but his appeal was dismissed.

Barrister Neal Horgan, for the accused, submitted to the Court of Criminal Appeal sitting in Cork that the headline sentence of five years was too high, and the reduction of it to four and a half years with the last year suspended took insufficient account of mitigating factors.