SDCC calls for fewer suspended sentences in assault cases

South Dublin County Council will write to the Minister for Justice about the issue of suspended sentences being applied for violent assaults.

A motion proposed by independent councillor Paul Gogarty was agreed upon at this month’s meeting of South Dublin County Council.

“We’ve ha quite a number of attacks on members of the public, including high-profile ones, in recent months”, Gogarty told the meeting.

“I’m quite aware that it’s not our position to interfere in the judiciary, it’s about sending a message to the legislature and those who can make independently make decisions that this council expresses concern about the sentencing process.”

He added that he wanted to leave it up to “those who know more than us,” on the sentence, but said the public mood around sentencing is negative.

“There is general dissatisfaction and public outrage where people can get by with fairly lenient sentences. The only way that can be ultimately changed is if the Oireachtas change how the laws are enacted and the independent judiciary then makes the decisions on the basis of that.”

Sinn Féin councillor Louise Dunne said, “this is something that angers me on a daily basis; seeing the amount of suspended sentences that are issued every day in our courts.”

She noted that sentencing guidelines are being revised the Judicial Council, but she said “it can’t come quick enough.” 

“We need to send a strong message from this council that there should be zero tolerance in relation to attacks on another individual.”

Dunne discussed the topic of domestic violence, stating that one in five women in Ireland are victims of domestic violence.

“That is one in five men, that we know, are perpetrators of domestic violence. They walk amongst us. That isn’t to generalise, I know it’s not all men, but as women, we need men to be our allies, same with the judicial system.”

She called for mandatory sentences for people who commit acts of violence.

“We have a justice system in place where judges give suspended sentences, hoping that rehabilitation will happen,” but she said that those who commit violence against others are repeat offenders.

“More often then not, those who commit violence against an individual, it isn’t their first time. They are committing these offences behind closed doors.” 

“The unfortunate thing is people in this country don’t report; if they are heard and are listened to they are let down by the justice system.”

Dunne noted “over 90% of the assaults that happen in this country are against women,” with a 2022 report from Women’s Aid finding that 90% of women killed in Ireland since 1996 knew their killer.

“We will have zero tolerance when it comes to violence against any individual; people should be called out. They shouldn’t be getting suspended sentences, fines, or walking free with a slap on the wrists.”

Social Democrats councillor Eoin Ó Broin welcomed Dunne highlighting statistics on the issue, saying that Gogarty’s motion “was a bit too broad.”

“I’m not sure where he’s coming from; is it a Fine Gael-type ‘law and order’ thing where we need more guards and more prison places or is it a more liberal position?”

“It’s hard for me to interpret, it’s so broad, and there are no examples. It’s too vague for me.”

Gogarty did acknowledge that the specifics of the issue were “vague”, but he said in the past he has submitted motions where he went into too much detail on specific issues when “it should be left up to those who know better.”

“This motion is more about expressing the sentiment and leaving it up to those whose remit it is to examine it.”

“Too often, men in particular have gotten away with horrific attacks on women and it needs to be set out through the legislative process that it cannot cannot be tolerated.”

“It’s not trying to change any particular element of the law because we don’t have that remit, it’s about sending out that sentiment and message.”

The motion was agreed by South Dublin County Council, who will now write to the Minister for Justice, the Law Reform Commission, and the Judicial Council.

The response, when received, will be distributed to members of South Dublin County Council.

In June, peaceful protests sprung up nationwide after a soldier was granted a suspended sentence for attacking a woman on a Limerick street in 2022.

Natasha O’Brien became a figurehead in the fight to reform Irish sentencing laws after her attacker Cathal Crotty was given a suspended sentence.

The judge who handed down the sentence, Tom O’Donnell, became a symbol of what people perceive to be lenience in the Irish legal system along with Judge Martin Nolan.

In early 2023, an Irish Times article discussed how Judge Nolan became a lightning rod of controversy thanks to his rulings and supposed lenience in assault cases.

Barrister Tony McGillicudd told the newspaper “there are sentencing guidelines and parameters and our system requires they have to be operated independently by judges. The aim is to ensure judges are not subject to populist forces.”

In July, the Dáil discussed the issue of gender-based violence, with a cabinet meeting discussing how the government can achieve its “zero tolerance” campaign.

Taoiseach Simon Harris said “every time domestic or gender abuse is seen as some private matter that happens behind closed doors and is hidden, we fail victims. We allow the voices of victims to be silent.”

“We need to leave our political jerseys at the door and deliver the change our children and their children deserve.”

“I am conscious we live in a country in which one in four women is subject to domestic abuse. That means there are hundreds of thousands of women and children living and growing up in an environment of fear and control,” he said.

“Domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is an epidemic in Ireland. Let us begin by calling that out and accepting it is an epidemic in Ireland. It is unacceptable and must change. It is not a problem created by women and it should not be left to women to speak out against it.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said at the time “we need to look at sentencing decisions and appropriate training for judges. Victims have to have confidence in the justice system. That is their right.”

“Women demand nothing less than a truly zero tolerance approach. Lip service is simply not enough. Women need to see follow-through with urgent action. Another strategy that simply gathers dust on a shelf will not deliver the solutions that are needed.”

“I know that society can do better for women, and it must.”