THE COURT of Criminal Appeal has reduced from 12 to eight years the prison sentence imposed on a man for the oral rape of his three-year-old daughter.
The three-judge court ruled the man (32) was entitled to a reduction in sentence on grounds that the sentencing judge had not fully taken into account his early admissions of guilt, without which he could not have been convicted.
The man was sentenced by Mr Justice Barry White at the Central Criminal Court in 2008 to 15 years in prison, with the final three years suspended, after he admitted two counts of oral rape of his then three-year-old daughter in March-April 2005.
Moving the appeal against the severity of the sentence yesterday, Patrick Gageby SC said Mr Justice White erred by imposing a sentence that was unduly severe given the various mitigating circumstances, including the man’s early plea of guilty.
This was a serious crime, and his client made admissions at an early stage without which there could never have been a prosecution, Mr Gageby said. His client had no previous convictions, was hard-working and had shown genuine remorse for his actions.
Rosario Boyle SC, for the DPP, argued that there was no error and the sentence should stand.
The appeal court, with Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan presiding and sitting with Mr Justice Declan Budd and Mr Justice Liam McKechnie, held there was an error in the original sentence in that, when the mitigating factors were taken into account, the starting point of 15 years was too high.
The appeal court said it would quash the 12-year sentence and would substitute it for one of 10 years, with the final two years suspended. Mr Justice Finnegan said this was “a most serious crime”, and the court had taken into account the effect the offences had on the young child.
However, it also noted that the man admitted his guilt at an early stage, despite an initial denial, so that his daughter would be able to get counselling for what was done to her.