Rape sentences - Judges under spotlight over inconsistency

THE inconsistency of judicial sentencing is again put under the spotlight by contrasting sentences handed down this week for rape, one of the most heinous of all crimes.

In contrast with the 15-year jail term imposed by Mr Justice Paul Carney on a man for raping a 75-year-old woman on Monday, another rapist walked free from the Central Criminal Court in Dublin when he received a three-year suspended sentence from the same judge for raping a woman in her home while she slept.

In a rare public display of anger the second victim went public last night to vent her outrage at the verdict.