Irish soldier jailed after suspended sentence appealed

PA Media Natasha O'Brien, the victim of an assault in Limerick, mid sentence. She is wearing a cream coloured coat and light coloured shirt. She has brunette hair.PA Media
Natasha O'Brien was left unconscious after the attack

An Irish soldier has been sentenced to two years in prison for assaulting a woman in a random attack, following an appeal by Ireland's Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Cathal Crotty, who is 22 and from Ardnacrusha in County Clare, had been handed a suspended sentence for the offence last June.

He attacked 25-year-old Natasha O'Brien in Limerick in 2022 after she asked him to stop shouting homophobic abuse.

The appeal's judge, Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, ruled Crotty's wholly suspended sentence was "unduly lenient".

Speaking outside court, Ms O'Brien said: "Today for the first time in an Irish court, I felt seen and heard.

"I felt acknowledged, and it's just in total contrast to how I felt leaving that court house last June."

"The gravity of the sentence has absolutely overwhelmed me and I definitely didn't come in this morning expecting this at all," she added.

PA Media Two women, backed by a crowd holding placards and signs, protest against the sentence of a man convicted for an assault on Natasha O'Brien. PA Media
Protestors across the Republic of Ireland demonstrated against the original sentence

The original sentence sparked protests in four cities across the Republic of Ireland, and Ms O'Brien said at the time "its not justice".

Ms Justice Kennedy said the sentencing judge gave undue weight to mitigating factors in the case and that Crotty's conduct deserved to be censured and punished in a sufficiently meaningful way.

She described the attack as cowardly and described how Crotty ran from the scene, leaving Ms O'Brien bloody and injured.

Crotty was dismissed from his job at the Defence Forces, and the consequences of a custodial sentence had been considered by the sentencing judge.

However, Ms Justice Kennedy said the impact of the custodial sentence on Crotty's career in the army was "negligible".

She described the attack as a "brutal, unprovoked assault on a defenceless woman".

His conduct was compounded when he posted a message on Snapchat about the attack, the motive for which Ms Justice Kennedy described as incomprehensible.

She also said that mitigation did include Crotty submitting a signed plea of guilty, but only when presented with CCTV evidence after having initially claimed Ms O'Brien had instigated the attack.

She said Crotty had demonstrated shame and remorse, including offering the victim €3,000 (£2,500) compensation.

But she said the court would quash the original sentence and impose its own.