Light sentencing in Ireland re crime

[LadyEloise1]

Anyone else sick of the light sentences given in Ireland for crime.
I've just seen that a man who raped and sexually abused his youngest sister starting when she was 6 and he was 12 was given 7 and a half year sentence for the rapes. He was given consecutive sentences totalling 5 years for the sexual assaults but the judge decided that sentence would run concurrently with the 7 year term. FFS !!!
Apparently his remorse (yeah right ), the fact he pleaded guilty and he had no previous convictions were mitigating factors. The judge suspended the final 18 months of the sentence, despite the judge saying that the victim was a vulnerable and defenceless child, the offences were humiliating and degrading, that the victim had a right to bodily integrity and that she lived in fear.
Will this child rapist be out in 3 years ?
I am utterly disgusted with this sentence.

Catherine Connolly is the best TD in Dáil Éireann for my money. Intelligent, hard working and honest. Presumably it is this last quality that disqualified her from the role of Ceann Comhairle. So the gombeen 'independents' foisted a less able candidate upon us. Or one more 'biddable ' perhaps?

If the antics of the last few days are anything to go by this ceann comhairle is going to have issues.

@Abhannmor alas honesty and integrity in politicians are considered by some in politics as weakness.

AND she can operate in both the first and second national languages as defined by our Constitution, which would seem to be a pretty basic requirement for the presiding official in any nation's parliament...

Indeed. I can usually understand her in both as well. So I'm guessing she is not a native speaker - as my comprehension is not that good to be honest. When a native speaker is ag labhairt I'm usually looking for the Pause Button tar éis nóiméid!

I think she is a native speaker from Conamara.

Then I'm very impressed. Her diction is so clear and lucid. Mindful of us less proficient i nGaeilge perhaps.

It says online that she is from Shantalla which is part of Galway city, to the best of my knowledge. She sounds like a native speaker to me, so maybe there is a family background in the Gaeltacht, but agreed - lovely clear diction

A news article popped up on my feed about 2 people being jailed for sitting driver theory tests for others, jailed for 2y 6m and 2y 8m. I saw it was Martin Nolan so wondered if he'd started taking crimes seriously. A quick Google of his name finds that he's the same as ever. In his world child abuse and violence against women and girls are not crimes - see screenshot for recent sentencing. I hadn't read the first article at that stage but when I returned to it I saw that Martin Nolans misogyny is on full display even in that case. The poor violent male defendent couldn't have known any better and will try to do better in future after all it wasn't his fault really despite his long list of convictions whereas the female victim of coercive control, who turned her life around since her partner fled the country during the investigation, is fully responsible for her actions. Oh won't somebody please think of the poor men!
https://www.rte.ie/news/courts/2025/0130/1493854-alina-glont-daniel-stepien-court/

Most of Martin Nolan's sentences for crimes break my heart. The ones I read about in the newspaper anyway.
He was appointed by Labour to my knowledge and is an ex garda.
He is married, according to an article in the Irish Independent in 2007, with 3 girls and a boy.

www.thejournal.ie/man-beat-former-partner-twice-in-one-night-given-suspended-sentence-6614467-Feb2025/

Judge Nolan strikes again.

€4000 to put up and shut up.

I can honestly say if I was a man up on abuse charges I'd most definitely take my chances in court if Nolan was the Judge.

If I was the victim of a crime by a man against me and turned up in court seeking justice and saw Judge Nolan I'd probably just tell my legal team to call off the case as a female will not get justice with that cretin letting men off, pointless putting myself through a trial knowing the male will get off.

Whoever recommended him for the judiciary should hang their head in shame.

And the honourable Judge Nolan strikes again...
Sunday World article Apologies for the SW article the Indo one was behind a paywall.

Really is there anything that can be done about this judge? In my mind, he's almost as bad as the men he's letting off 😕

How far away is that prick from retirement

I just checked, he'll be 66 in June so hopefully he'll retire then. Mind you, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets a kick out of letting these scumbags off so maybe he'll stay on longer 🙄

That vile misogynist will stay till 70.

Enjoys showing women and children how little value they are in his eyes and how better than to ensure he protects child and women abusers free to keep on abusing.

Ah no @LifeInAHamsterWheel.

Jesus wept.
Why is he allowed to give such measly sentences ???
It's just utterly heartbreaking. Those poor victims.
And the politicians will say they can't interfere in the judiciary - despite they having appointed most of the current lot.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/you-can-kill-a-man-and-walk-free-ronan-keating-hits-out-after-man-given-suspended-sentence-over-death-of-brother/a1482578485.html

https://archive.ph/1OJZ5

"He was given a 17-month suspended sentence at Castlebar Circuit Court in Mayo on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to careless driving causing death, the Courts Service said"

"Posting on his Instagram stories, the singer said that the sentencing was a “devastating example” of how “broken our justice system is”.
“You can kill a man… and you can walk free. Not even a single night in prison. Just a slap on the wrist and a ticket to carry on your life, like nothing ever happened,” he said on Thursday.
“And then we wonder why we keep seeing this kind of behaviour on our roads, why people keep dying in road accidents across Ireland every week?
“It’s a joke and it’s morally corrupt that rather than trying to fix our broken system, they all turn a blind eye.
“Shame on Dean Harte but more so, shame on everyone involved in this process that contributed to the heartbreaking outcome for my family."

Is there anyone ( politician) who will shout STOP and sort out the pathetic sentencing 🥲

Minister McEntee, when questioned about this, always maintained that government and politicians cannot interfere with the judiciary. Fair enough, but as legislators they can write laws to ensure that sentencing is adequate and contains minimum sentences, as well as adequate sentencing guidelines, for these types of criminal offences.

So who's his boss? He can just do what he likes and nothing gets said or done? He's disgusting.

Remember in the past it was political patronage that got them the jobs.
I think it has changed now and there is a panel............

And also build prisons to keep up with population growth so that lack of prison space is no longer an excuse

I think that what gets me even more with Martin Nolan is the inconsistency of his sentences across different demographics. We know if a man is before him for domestic violence or having images of child abuse he's likely to get off. Likewise, for different levels of violence. But if it's for criminal damage/burglary they may get jail sentence. Likewise a woman coming before him is likely to get a custodial sentence. The value he places on women and children's lives is plain to see.