The case of Cathal Crotty, the Irish soldier who escaped with a suspended jail sentence after a vicious attack on a young woman, has rightly attracted enormous concern across Ireland over recent days.
Crotty (22) was off duty when he battered his victim on a street in the centre of Limerick, beating her unconscious while punching her six times and leaving her with multiple injuries, including a broken nose and bruising, when she asked him to stop shouting homophobic abuse.
Natasha O’Brien (24) spoke out courageously outside the court last Thursday, after Crotty pleaded guilty to assault but was astonishingly allowed to walk free, with his three-year prison term suspended by Judge Tom O’Donnell.
Ms O’Brien, who did not know Crotty, said she had come forward to use her voice because so many other innocent women had been traumatised by other episodes of male violence, but felt she had not received justice.
Although the judge said Crotty had carried out a “cowardly, vicious, unprovoked” crime, he insisted that the defendant “must be given credit” for his guilty plea and told the court he had no doubt that, if Crotty was jailed, his army career would be over.
Judge O’Donnell had indicated some weeks ago that he intended to retire after a 50-year legal career, with today as his last day on the bench, and the onus is now on the authorities to address the major implications of the scandal.
It is entirely unacceptable that Crotty could still be able to wear his uniform in any circumstances, and there will be a firm expectation that he will be dismissed from the Irish army without further delay
With Crotty still serving as a soldier, taoiseach Simon Harris was fully entitled to express his alarm yesterday about the way in which the Irish army had responded so far.
A spokesman for the defence forces said last week that internal proceedings against Crotty were under way, and could not have started before the sentence was delivered, but Mr Harris made it clear that he was very unhappy with the sequence of events.
The taoiseach said he believed figures in the defence forces were aware of Crotty’s prosecution but had failed to act, and declared that anyone with a conviction for domestic, sexual or gender based offences had “no place whatsoever” retaining a post as a soldier.
It is entirely unacceptable that Crotty could still be able to wear his uniform in any circumstances, and there will be a firm expectation that he will be dismissed from the Irish army without further delay.
An equally urgent priority is the launch of a full appeal against the decision to suspend his original sentence, as the courts have a basic responsibility to send out an unmistakeable message that violence against women can never be tolerated.
