Former Clare soldier Cathal Crotty jailed as Court of Appeal overturns suspended sentence

The now-former soldier pleaded guilty, in July last year, to a charge of assault causing harm.

The case prompted a public and political outcry when it emerged that Crotty had assaulted Ms O'Brien, 25, on a busy street in Limerick city on May 29, 2022 after she heard him call someone a "faggot" and asked him to stop shouting homophobic abuse.

He then verbally abused Ms O'Brien using the same word before carrying out the assault.

Crotty, who was discharged from the Defence Forces last summer, initially lied to gardaí, telling them he had been attacked first, but changed his story when confronted with CCTV.

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

Crotty, from Ardnacrusha, County Clare was aged 20 at the time of the assault.

In June 2024, Judge Tom O'Donnell (now retired), sitting at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court, imposed a suspended three-year term on Crotty and ordered him to pay €3,000 compensation to Ms O’Brien.

Prior to the resentencing, Ms Buckley told the court that the victim still suffers with post traumatic stress disorder and is attending therapy. She is not currently working and experiences highs and lows but is engaging with treatment.

Brian McInerney SC, for Crotty, asked the court to take into account the "enormous amount of media attention" that the case has attracted.

He said his client has been discharged from the army as a result of the offence and he has been expelled from a prominent golf club in Limerick. He is working at a warehouse earning a "modest pay", counsel said, and recently received a letter which, when viewed by gardai, prompted them to say they would prioritise any calls from his address.

Earlier, in her submissions, Ms Buckley said the DPP has no issue with the sentencing judge setting a headline sentence of four years for the assault. However, the director, she said, is of the view that the decision to reduce that to three years, fully-suspended, gave too much weight to the mitigating factors in the case.

Counsel submitted that Crotty's conduct was of such gravity that it requires to be punished "by hard treatment" to communicate society's disapproval of his actions. The sentence, she said, ought to have included a custodial element to "send a deterrent message."

The sentencing judge identified Crotty's guilty plea, good service record in the army, and lack of previous convictions as mitigating factors. Ms Buckley said the judge also appeared to place significant weight on the fact that Crotty was likely to lose his job as a result of his conviction.

Ms Buckley pointed out that Crotty is not married and has no dependents, submitting that the judge had placed excessive weight on the likely job-loss.

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Brian McInerney SC, for Crotty, said Judge O'Donnell was an experienced, hard-working judge who acted out of a sense of humanity having heard all the evidence. While counsel accepted the sentence was lenient, he said he has no hesitation in arguing that it was not unduly lenient.

Mr Justice John Edwards intervened, telling counsel: "You appear to be saying that this was the showing of mercy. No doubt mercy has a place in sentencing practice, but there are limits to it too."

Mr Justice Edwards said a wholly suspended sentence in a case such as this would require "special and extraordinary circumstances" that the judge said were absent in this case.

People should be entitled to walk the streets at night without fear of attack, she said, adding: "Attacks on individuals, male and female, are far too common and should be punished in an appropriate manner to indicate society's deprecation of such conduct."

Speaking outside court after Mr Crotty was sentenced, Natasha O'Brien (pictured last summer) said: "For the first time in an Irish court I felt seen and heard, I felt acknowledged and it's just a total contrast to how I felt in that courthouse last June."

She added: "The courts have sent a message today, they have sent a message loud and clear: Violence will no longer be tolerated against anyone in this country and that's what we're taking away from today." She said her faith in the justice system has been restored.