Anthony Lyons - once again, one law for the rich ...

[DCon]

Quite lenient, is our judge

A former music teacher has today been sentenced to two years with one suspended for sexually assaulting a pupil at the accused's Co Meath home 25 years ago.

Judge Desmond Hogan said he was "deeply cognisant of the breach of trust that surrounds this case" but added that the law requires that he take into account the "lapse of time" between when the offence occurred and when it was dealt with by the court.

http://www.eveningecho.ie/2012/07/30...ting-ex-pupil/

A Dublin man has today been given a suspended sentence after admitting to indecently assaulting a seven-year-old boy 34 years ago.

Brian Casey (aged 60) gave the boy Action Man toys and money when he abused him.

Judge Desmond Hogan noted the amount of time that has passed since the offence. He also noted that Casey has no other convictions and that a psychological report put him at a low risk of reoffending.

He suspended a sentence of two year's imprisonment. Casey has been registered as a sex offender.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/n...oy-560932.html

Serial sex abuser Fr Paul McGennis (81) was yesterday jailed for two years for the indecent assault of a young parishioner in the early 1980s.

The now 42-year-old woman, who was aged just 11 when the abuse began, was in court to see the disgraced priest sentenced. She had requested that he be publicly named.

Sentencing him to six years, with four years suspended, Judge Hogan said he would have imposed a lengthier sentence but for McGennis's age and ill-health and the fact that he had made a "substantial" offer of compensation to his victim in settlement of her civil proceedings.

http://www.independent.ie/national-n...1-2835497.html

A 71-year-old self-made businessman who failed to make tax returns worth more than €9m on behalf of himself and his company is to be jailed for three months, starting at 1pm on Thursday.

Judge Desmond Hogan, who also fined the company a total of €15,000, agreed to an application by defence counsel, Mr Patrick MacEntee SC (with Mr Paul Green BL) to put a stay on the sentence order until Thursday.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/cwcwqlkfausn/

A man who drove a car into a taxi driver who had acted as a "Good Samaritan" by trying to save a colleague from an assault, has received a two year suspended sentence and been given 240 hours community service.

Judge Hogan said that Dunphy could have caused serious harm to Mr Connolly, whom he said was acting as a "Good Samaritan" and to the other people present, when he drove the car in their direction.

Judge Hogan said he considered it an additional aggravating factor that Dunphy had driven a car that did not belong to him and had done so when he was very drunk.

He sentenced Dunphy to two years in prison but suspended it on condition that he keep the peace and be of good behaviour for two years. He also ordered a community service report to establish if Dunphy is suitable to serve 240 hours work in the community and adjourned finalising the matter to November 24.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/archives/.../cwauidmhkfau/

[musashi]

He should have checked the side effects which I'm sure would have stated "May cause rape".

I shouldn't lol at this, I really shouldn't.

[Andrew49]

Businessman Anthony Lyons has had the bulk of a 6-year sentence for sexual assault suspended, and instead he is to give 75,000 Euro to the victim, whose family have said: money talks.

Sex offenders who don't have the 75k in readies will still, of course, have to go inside for the full stretch. That, after all, is justice.

Seems to me the award (of €75,00) by the judge prevents the victim from suing Lyons! It's akin to the judge say ... take the money and ****

The longest sentence for child sex abuse in the history of the State was 36 years ...

It's very very hard to understand the sentencing policy in child abuse cases:

Kelly case I (Brother Ambrose)

Brother of Charity James Kelly was charged with assaulting five boys, aged between 10 and 16, at the Lota school in Glanmire, Co Cork, pleaded guilty to 77 charges of sexually assaulting disadvantaged and mentally handicapped boys who were in his care 1950s-60s. He was also convicted of sexually abusing 10 children, aged 9-14, over a three-year period in the 1960s at the Holy Family School in Renmore, Galway. Kelly was sentenced to 18 consecutive two-year sentences in at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, November 1999. His sentence of 36 years made history, the longest sentence ever handed down for a crime in Ireland, other than capital murder.

1. Kelly appeal:
He served just 18 months in prison before the review of his sentence when the Court of Criminal Appeal granted early release providing his order, the Brothers of Charity, could find a home for him abroad, but religious houses in Britain and Belgium refused to have him.

In February 2002. Mr. Justice Geoghegan said Kelly had at that stage served at least three years in prison, which the court felt was ample punishment.

As one victim put it,“I feel I’ve been raped again by the court. They might as well have a struck a knife in me.”

2. Kelly case II:
Kelly was served with a further 77 summons relating to sexual assaults on children in Cork and Galway and was sentenced at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to five years in prison with four years suspended March 2004.

[musashi]

He served just 18 months in prison before the review of his sentence when the Court of Criminal Appeal granted early release providing his order, the Brothers of Charity, could find a home for him abroad, but religious houses in Britain and Belgium refused to have him..

A 36 year sentence reduced to 1 and a half years.
I wouldn't have believed it but that it happened here.

[eamo]

I thought I remembered different treatment being given to another Antony Lyons, but as it happens it was a Mr Dean Lyons. An unfortunate drug addict who was framed by the Guards back in the last century. Thank heavens that could not happen now. No Sir!! could Not happen now,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grangegorman_killings

http://www.missingpersons-ireland.fr...balmurders.htm


From this;
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2001/ja...anrights.world

They have accused the Garda and the Irish Republic's Director of Public Prosecutions of being involved in a massive cover-up. The decision to allow Nash to exercise his right to be transferred under the Human Rights Act has only confirmed their sus picions that the Irish state wants rid of this troublesome prisoner.

Nash is currently serving a life sentence in Dublin's Arbour Hill jail for the frenzied murder in August 1997 of a young Roscommon couple, Catherine and Carl Doyle.

Nash also confessed to another double murder the same year. But despite giving a detailed confession Nash only ever faced a trial for killing the Doyles.

The trouble for the Garda in the other murder six months earlier was that they had already charged another man with the killings, Dean Lyons, a 24-year-old homeless heroin addict.

As always, one law for the rich, another for the poor.

[C. Flower]

The father of the woman who was assaulted went to Lyons house this morning, and reportedly shook the gate and shouted that he would have to leave the area.

Armed gardaí came to the scene, according to RTE.

Not sure if he was arrested.

Who was the judge, by the way?

Ah.

http://www.broadsheet.ie/2012/07/31/...desmond-hogan/

[C. Flower]

How to get from Bar to Bench.

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/an...h-1275182.html

[Sam Lord]

I noticed in todays IT that Glen Humphrey who was convicted of punching three women in a takeaway and stamping on one he had knocked to the ground was given a suspended sentence in the Dublin Circuit court.

If the individual had a spotless record you might possibly accept that it was a momentary abberation due to drink or whatever and that he might be given the benefit of a chance. Humphrey , however, has six previous convictions and received an eight-month sentence in 2007 for assault causing harm.

I don't think that Irish Judges are that pushed about violence against women. Didn't the one who locked up the garlic importer for years give a suspended sentence to someone who killed a woman outside a courthouse?

[DCon]

I noticed in todays IT that Glen Humphrey who was convicted of punching three women in a takeaway and stamping on one he had knocked to the ground was given a suspended sentence in the Dublin Circuit court.

If the individual had a spotless record you might possibly accept that it was a momentary abberation due to drink or whatever and that he might be given the benefit of a chance. Humphrey , however, has six previous convictions and received an eight-month sentence in 2007 for assault causing harm.

I don't think that Irish Judges are that pushed about violence against women. Didn't the one who locked up the garlic importer for years give a suspended sentence to someone who killed a woman outside a courthouse?

I'm sure it depends on the social class of the woman, unfortunately.

If a lady from a judge's wife's bridge club was attacked, I am sure the book would be thrown at the evil demented perpetrator, regardless of the medication that was consumed ahead of the attack

[disability student]

Since Gerard Barry case, judge failed again . You ask yourself what credibility do these judges have now ? even after Pringle's court challenge..... none whatsoever.

Money of 75K doesn't do justice as it's a stiffer jail sentence handed out, which would be greater deterrent for him NOT to repeat a crime again. Lesson learned by judges- nothing. Just remind you of the Garlic court case where Begley was honest and co operative BUT he was given six year sentence. That informs us that there is something seriously wrong with our courts/judges et al.

[disability student]

Big pillars of the society are losing their authority fast... starting with politicians, Catholic Church, lawyers, developers, Garda (Mc Brearty case),Auctioneers/builders, medical profession (Shine, Blood bank et al),Banks,Central bank along with ESRI, Judges et al.

Is that a recipe for growing divide between them and us in near future, which would lead to breakdown of society or break the social cohesion ??

[Sam Lord]

I don't think that Irish Judges are that pushed about violence against women. Didn't the one who locked up the garlic importer for years give a suspended sentence to someone who killed a woman outside a courthouse?

Sorry, I got that wrong. The guy actually got three whole years for killing the woman and it was outside the Rotunda. Nine previous including assault.

A former soccer player has been jailed for three years for killing a woman he thought was spreading rumours about his new-born baby being taken into care.

Wesley Ward (aged 33) pulled Ms Tracey O’Brien to the ground and kicked and stamped on her head outside the Rotunda Hospital. The mother of his child was also involved in the attack. She was acquitted of manslaughter but convicted of assault causing harm last month.

The court heard Ward told gardaí on his arrest: “All I did was kick her in the face, what’s wrong with that?”
[....]

Ward has nine previous convictions for matters such as common assault, theft and road traffic offences.

[Andrew49]

We need a Court Watch thread/blog to expose the idiosyncratic sentencing that some judges hand out here in Ireland.

[OMF]

It's worth noting that a lot of judges are in serious trouble with the banks financially, not to mention the barristers. The courts have never been more vulnerable to talking money than they are right now.

[C. Flower]

In another Court on the same week, the Judge was very concerned that the defendant should not be deprived of his enjoyment of his holiday home in the Canaries, and allowed him to retain his passport, and not to be required to sign at the Garda Station, contrary to Garda wishes.

http://www.4ie.ie/irish_news.asp?id=148228

A retired consultant surgeon has appeared in court accused of indecently assaulting 16 young males over three decades at Our Lady's Hospital in Drogheda.

Dr Michael Shine, 80, of Wellington Road in Dublin, was charged with 25 counts of indecent assault.

He denied all 24 charges, and he said he was not in Ireland at the time of the other charge.

The man is 80 years old. I may be wrong, but I would not be surprised if he doesn't come back to face trial.