The DPP has appealed Cathal Crotty’s suspended sentence for assault against Natasha O’Brien.
National uproar occurred after the Irish soldier who boasted about beating a woman unconscious in an unprovoked attack avoided jail time.
Cathal, (22), of Parkroe Heights, Ardnacrusha, Co Clare, walked free from court after getting a fully suspended sentence at the end of June.
The 22-year-old serving Irish soldier initially tried to blame the innocent victim, Natasha, (24), by wrongly telling the gardai who arrested him that she instigated the attack at O’Connell Street, Limerick, on May 29, 2022.
The DPP lodged its appeal on Friday on the grounds of undue leniency.
No date has been set for the initial appeal hearing.
On Monday night, military management sought urgent legal advice on whether the appeal means it must postpone the dismissal process until the conclusion of the case.
The Defence Forces Regulations concerning the discharge of soldiers with civilian convictions state that discharges “will not be carried out until it has been ascertained that no appeal is pending, or, where an appeal has been made until the appeal is heard and determined.”
However, the legal advice it received stated the regulation applies only to appeals against conviction by an accused, rather than appeals against sentence by the DPP.
As a result, senior officers are confident they can proceed with the dismissal process against Cathal.
Speaking on Monday, Natasha said legislation and sentencing guidelines “need to change” to make the courts “more accessible” for victims of crime.
“That is fantastic and it is great to see the wheel of change moving slowly forward.”
However, Natasha said she was concerned at some of the reaction to her public stance.
“I’ve been receiving an outrageous amount of backlash this past weekend, in regards to people saying ‘would she give it a rest’ – ‘two [punches] to put her down, how many to shut her up’, ‘she deserved it, she’s mouthy’.
“That is really frightening. This is a societal issue and people are getting frustrated that I am continuing to speak out about this? I won’t be giving it a rest, because we, as a society, are only at the start. We are moving forward but it is nowhere where we need to be,” Ms O’Brien said.
“To any of those commentators – their hate is my motivation to keep going.”
“It is raising alarms for me that there is such a lack of conversation around the justice system, around victims, around violence, that people are seriously triggered when I speak out about holding accountability for assaults.”
