DPP to appeal sentence of Clare soldier Cathal Crotty

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has lodged an appeal against the sentence of Irish soldier Cathal Crotty, who is based in Sarsfield Barracks in Limerick. 

The Courts Services have confirmed that it will be an appeal for "undue leniency" of a sentence. 

Cathal Crotty, who is 22-years-old, of Park Row Heights, Ardnacrusha, Co Clare, pleaded guilty in Limerick Circuit Court to one count of assault causing harm to Natasha O'Brien, on O'Connell Street in Limerick City on May 29, 2022, contrary to Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act of 1997. 

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On June 19, now retired Judge Tom O'Donnell, imposed a three-year sentence, which he suspended in full. 

In Limerick courthouse on Mulgrave Street, the presiding judge described it as one of the most outrageous cases he has come across in recent times. 

"It was absolutely appalling - assaulting a female in the most egregious fashion and continuing while she lay on the ground defenceless. It was a cowardly, unprovoked, vicious and totally unnecessary assault," Mr O'Donnell said. 

In her victim impact statement, Natasha O'Brien, who has been outspoken looking for change since the court hearing, said that: "the memory of that vicious, sinister look in his eyes as he approached me will haunt me forever."

She added: "I didn't feel human as I laid in a foetal position losing consciousness. He continued his relentless beating. My last conscious thought was, he's not stopping, I'm going to die." 

Ms O'Brien believes she passed out during the assault, in which she suffered a broken nose, concussion, swelling and bruising. 

A spokesperson for the Courts Services said "there is no date yet for an initial hearing in the appeal." 

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