A protest is planned outside the court Wednesday amid growing public anger over the terms of the sentence on soldier Cathal Crotty
Planned farewell tributes to judge Tom O’Donnell, who retires from the Limerick Circuit Criminal Court on Wednesday, have been cancelled in the wake of a storm of social unrest, after the judge imposed a suspended sentence on a soldier who savagely beat a woman unconscious in Limerick city.
Legal sources said they had "sympathy" for Judge O’Donnell who they said had found himself "in the midst of a tornado" of public discord. They said they vehemently disagreed with some of the "outrageous" commentary aimed at the judge, particularly online. Crotty, of Parkroe Heights was also ordered by judge O’Donnell to pay €3,000 in compensation, after he pleaded guilty to the charge of assaulting Ms O’Brien causing her harm, at O’Connell Street, Limerick City, on May 29th, 2022.
As Ms O’Brien was about to begin reading her victim impact statement to the court last week, judge O’Donnell asked her if she understood the "significance" of Crotty’s guilty plea, which the judge explained had saved the court as well as gardai, time and resources that would have otherwise been required for a trial, and that would have otherwise delayed the case by at least 18 months.
Commandant Togher said he was "exceptionally disappointed and surprised" at Crotty’s "very out of character" behaviour, and that he was most disappointed, because he said, members of the Defence Forces were "expected to keep people safe".
Department Of Justice Limerick
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