The State has argued that sentences of between nine and 15 years that were imposed on three family members jailed as part of the Munster abuse trial, in what was described by a judge as a case of “sheer horror” featuring the rape and sexual exploitation of young children, were too lenient.
The offences occurred between August 2014 and April 2016, starting when three of the victims – a young girl and her two brothers – were aged five, six and seven.European election: Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan elected with final counts underway to seat remaining MEPsRoaring rural TDs came looking for Dáil insults and Simon Harris didn’t let them down
Concerning the offences inflicted on the children for years, which had a catastrophic effect on them, Mr Condon said that there was “barely a feature of aggravation that is missing” from this case.Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy said that as this case involved multiple offences of a sexual nature, there would be very little mitigation even when the respondent had no previous convictions.
Mr Condon said that the trial judge had considered that for the sexual assaults she committed, the starting point for sentencing should be the same as her husband, but the judge had gone on to say that the dynamic in the offending had not been driven by her. Mark Nicholas SC, defence counsel for the father, said that this was a serious case, but the trial judge, having listened to the evidence, quite correctly set the right zone for the headline sentence. He said there was no suggestion of any offending by the father up to 2014, while a lengthy prison sentence would affect the father greater than it would a younger man.