A TIPPERARY man who kidnapped and sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl 11 years ago has had his sentence increased following an appeal by the State.
The Court of Criminal Appeal found that the three-year sentence imposed on Joseph Finnerty (47) by Mr Justice Barry White in November 2009 was unduly lenient and increased it to four years.
However, Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan, presiding, said the court would suspend the final year of the new imposed sentence, having regard to the fact that Finnerty has served virtually the entirety of his original tariff and is due for release next month.
Finnerty, Grove Villas, Roscrea, had denied the false imprisonment, aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault of the now 25- year-old woman in a car he drove to a remote Co Offaly woodland on November 6th, 2000.
At his Central Criminal Court trial in October 2010, Mr Justice White had directed the jury to find Finnerty not guilty of aggravated sexual assault after medical evidence concluded the physical injuries the girl sustained were consistent with sexual assault, but not rape.
The jury convicted him of false imprisonment and sexual assault following a six-day trial. Finnerty lost an appeal against that conviction in November 2010.
Mr Justice Finnegan said the assault merited a significant sentence, as the appeal court had considered the dramatic effect it had had on the victim, including evidence that the attack had destroyed her life, had led her to feel suicidal and had resulted in problems in her married life.
Finnerty’s false imprisonment of his victim was also a most serious offence.
Dominic McGinn SC, prosecuting, said it was hard to imagine a more serious case of sexual assault. Mr Justice White committed a “serious error” by giving Finnerty credit for a lack of any subsequent convictions for violent crimes, in circumstances where he had in fact two convictions for assault and one for drink-driving which post-dated the offence.