Date set for appeal over suspended sentence in ex-Clare soldier assault case

A date has been fixed for the State's appeal against the "undue leniency" of the fully suspended sentence handed down to a former soldier who beat a woman unconscious on a Limerick street and later boasted about it on social media.

Cathal Crotty (22), from Parkroe Heights, Ardnacrusha, Co Clare, received a three-year suspended sentence at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court last June and was ordered to pay €3,000 in compensation after he pleaded guilty to carrying out an unprovoked attack on Natasha O’Brien on O’Connell Street in Limerick in May, 2022.

Ms O’Brien, who was not known to Crotty, was walking home with a friend having worked a shift at a pub when Crotty grabbed her by her hair and punched her to the ground after she asked him to stop shouting a homophobic slur at passersby, the court heard.

He continued holding her hair with one hand and punching her face with his other fist as she lost consciousness, the court heard.

Ms O’Brien, who sustained a broken nose and bruising and suffered nightmares and panic attacks afterwards, said she thought Crotty was going to kill her.

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Hours after the attack Crotty, who was a serving member of the Defence Forces at the time, boasted to friends on Snapchat: “Two to put her down, two to put her out,” in reference to striking Ms O’Brien. Crotty was discharged from the army in July.

The DPP’s appeal against the suspended sentence has been lodged on the basis of undue leniency.

At the Court of Appeal this Monday, December 2, counsel for the DPP, Lily Buckley BL, said that the appeal was expected to last around 45 minutes. She told the court that the victim is based in Limerick.

Donal Cronin BL, for Crotty, made a legal aid application for a second counsel in the case, which was granted by presiding judge Mr Justice John Edwards.

The judge then set the hearing for January 23 next year.