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A MAN WHO sexually abused his young sister “in excess of a couple of hundred times” has lost an appeal against the severity of his nine year prison sentence.
The 53-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the victim’s identity, had pleaded not guilty to 16 sample counts of indecently assaulting his sister at the family home on dates between 1 March 1983 and 1 March 1987.
The assaults took place when she was aged between seven and 11 and he was aged between 21 and 25.
He was found guilty by a jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court and sentenced to nine years imprisonment by Judge Martin Nolan on 12 January, 2015.
Dismissing the man’s appeal against sentence today, Mr Justice George Birmingham said the abuse commenced around the time of the victim’s first communion and occurred approximately four or five times a week.
The abuse occurred “in excess of a couple of hundred times” and continued until the girl attended sex education classes when she realised the significance of what was happening to her.
The man’s barrister, Tara Burns SC, submitted that the Circuit Court judge erred in how he structured the sentence. Having determined that the abuse itself was not the most serious of its kind, she said, the judge erred in aggravating it by adding as an additional element its duration over a continuous period of time.
Burns said it was unknown what the judge added on for the continuing behaviour and, as a result, he fell into error.
Mr Justice Birmingham said the sentence fell on the upper end of the scale – the maximum sentence is 10 years.
However, it did not fall outside the range available.
He said the judge’s approach in imposing a substantial sentence on one count and taking the others into consideration, while not the only approach available to him, was not an impermissible one.
In those circumstance, Mr Justice Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan and Mr Justice John Edwards, dismissed the appeal.
Mr Justice Birmingham said there were aggravating factors present in this case such as the brother-sister relationship, the duration – spanning as it did such a significant part of the injured party’s childhood – and the frequency of abuse.
While there were factors in the accused’s favour and the judge stated that he was having regard to them, the absence of a plea meant there was little scope for mitigation, Mr Justice Birmingham said.
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I will miss Melissa more than Sean
@CKC: she die?
@Quentin Moriarty: No
@Quentin Moriarty: she had one party trick …
@Greg Blake: was that the brilliant bridesmaids part?
He’s on his way out and still continues to lie.
He should team up with Chemical Ali and do a corporate lectures tour on defending the indefensible
I struggle to think of many people more odious and smug than Hannity.
@The Guru: one of the few faces that trigger my urge to punch it repeatedly until that smug look is knocked off.
“he’s an unbelievably gracious person”. “He’s always thinking of others”.
Are you sure you know who the current president even is?
His comedic interventions will be missed. Luckily with have Kelly-Anne (aka meth Barbie) to keep us enterained
Think Sarah Huckabee will be better taking on the hostile media as press spokesperson …How long more can they ask 70% of their questions on Russia….
@John003: as long as it takes.
@Deborah Behan: Or their rating do down….Whichever is first….
@John003: maybe, just maybe if they got an answer that wasn’t proven to be untrue they’d stop asking the same question. Think about it, every answer on Russia has changed repeatedly. “do you think Russia interfered in the election?” alternating “no” “yes” “maybe” “no” “with others” “Putin says no”. Another great example is Don Jr changing his story about the meeting with what he was told was a Kremlin lawyer on a daily basis which has now changed to him not talking anymore after it was revealed that there were up to 8 people in the meeting contrary to his statements saying there were 4. If they consistently gave the same answer there would be no need for clarification
@Paul Quirke: Ha ha. I call her Goebbels Barbie!
He forget the second C in cooks… just before the k there….
@Brian Guilfoyle: good one Brian.
@Brian Guilfoyle: coocks?
Fox News talking about media bias. Does it get any more surreal?
Too many Cooks and no ingredients,and no recipe,Lurching from one policy and legislative failure to another ,mired in intrigue with dubious people,let’s welcome him to Ireland he’ll fit right in
Not a shred of evidence to prove what psycho Trump and Spicer says is fake news.
@JimmyMc: One story means all media systematically makes up facts? Fox News is the real perpetrator of fake news.
@JimmyMc: one story where people had to resign and the victim of the story himself said “everyone makes mistakes” as he was graciously accepting their apology.
For a second there I was astounded- I thought it read ‘crooks’. Now that would have been a popcorn munching story!
Ill miss her. Such entertainment.
What a clown of a man still spewing out bulls#1t about fake media. I’d rather fake media any day over a nutcase president
Too many crooks more like…
think he meant too many crooks..
What else do you expect from liars and conmen, you’d hardly expect them to say they’re honest and provide real facts 99% of the time. When you’ve got idiots, stupid enough to vote for you and think you’re a God. You’re going to milk it, for what it’s worth and laugh at your supporters behind their backs.
Too many crooks or cooks?
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