DPP appeals against Cathal Crotty’s suspended sentence for assault in Limerick – The Irish Times

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has appealed against the three-year suspended sentence handed to soldier Cathal Crotty last month for beating a woman unconscious in Limerick city.

Crotty, 22, was handed a suspended sentence for brutally attacking Natasha O’Brien in the street after she asked him to stop shouting homophobic slurs at passers-by.

In the hours after the attack, Crotty, an Army private from Ardnacrusha, Co. Clare, boasted to friends on Snapchat: “Two to take her down, two to put her out,” referring to Ms O’Brien being punched four times.

Given the impact a prison sentence can have on a soldier’s career, Judge Tom O’Donnell handed him a three-year suspended sentence and ordered Crotty to pay €3,000 in compensation to Ms O’Brien, at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court on June 20.

The case has sparked considerable public and political controversy, with thousands of people taking part in protests last week in support of Ms O’Brien and against her lenient sentence.

On Friday, the DPP filed an appeal, arguing that the sentence was unfairly lenient. No date has been set for the first appeal hearing.

Ms O’Brien welcomed the DPP’s decision, saying “thank God the right thing is being done now”.

But she added that many more crime victims had no opportunity to appeal against a lenient sentence.

It could be “quite difficult” for the DPP to pursue an appeal, she said, adding: “I’m pretty sure there are a much larger number of unduly lenient sentences that don’t get to that point.

“I know the DPP is impartial to public opinion and government opinion. But I have no doubt that there would be no appeal if it were not for this national outcry,” she said.

She added that sentencing laws and guidelines “need to change” to make courts “more accessible” to victims of crime.

She noted that Labor was due to table a motion to the Dáil on Wednesday to tighten sentencing guidelines in assault cases. “It’s fantastic and it’s great to see the wheel of change slowly moving forward.”

Ms O’Brien added she was concerned about some reactions to her public stance.

“Last weekend I got an outrageous amount of negative reactions with people saying ‘would she give up’ – ‘two punches to knock her down, how many punches to silence her’, ‘she deserved it’ “She’s sassy.”

“It’s really scary. It’s a social problem and people are frustrated that I keep talking about it? I won’t let it go because we, as a society, are just at the beginning. We’re moving forward, but we’re not where we need to be yet,” Ms O’Brien said.

“To each of these commenters, their hatred is my motivation to continue.

“What worries me is that there is so little talk about justice, victims and violence that people get really upset when I talk about accountability for attacks.”