A convicted rapist will now have to serve a four-year sentence in prison following a decision of the Court of Criminal Appeal (CCA)yesterday to grant the DPP's appeal against the trial court's decision to suspend the entire sentence.
The DPP had appealed the suspension of John Leech's sentence by Mr Justice Herbert as "unduly lenient".
Leech's victim and her family had angrily criticised the suspension at the time.
Yesterday, the CCA agreed the sentence was unduly lenient and said the trial judge had given wholly disproportionate weight to the circumstances of Leech and far too little weight to those of the victim, a now 32-year-old woman.
The Chief Justice, Mr Justice Keane, presiding over the three-judge court, said the court would direct that Leech serve a four-year term of imprisonment, dating from yesterday. The court also quashed the trial judge's order directing Leech to pay the victim some €6,350 through weekly payments of some €63.
As a result of Leech pleading not guilty to the charge, the victim was cross-examined on the basis that the rape was consensual and this had understandably caused her obvious emotional stress, Mr Justice Keane added.
Mr Erwan Mill Arden SC, for Leech, accepted the suspended sentence was lenient but said his client had very special difficulties. Leech was one of eight children, his parents were separated and he had difficulties with his father, along with difficulties in his upbringing and schooling.
He had been receiving psychiatric attention even at the time of the trial but had always managed to find some kind of work.
Leech (30), a window cleaner, of Castletimon Avenue, Coolock, Dublin, was convicted by a jury in January last of raping the woman in his home on December 19th, 1998, some hours after they met in a city centre disco-pub.
Her mother, speaking from the body of the court, had objected when Mr Justice Herbert subsequently imposed a four-year suspended sentence. She said: "My daughter has been through hell and he walks away free."
Mr Justice Herbert said a suspended sentence was a real sentence and Leech was not walking free.
Mr Justice Herbert had wished Leech luck before allowing him to go home after having sworn to keep the peace for four years.