Soldier who boasted after beating woman unconscious in random attack walks free

A serving Irish soldier who beat a woman unconscious in a random street attack, and boasted about it afterwards on social media, has walked free from a court after getting a fully suspended sentence.

Ms O’Brien, who was not known to Crotty, was walking home with a female friend after working a shift at a pub, when he violently assaulted her. Crotty grabbed Ms O’Brien by her hair and punched her to the ground. He continued holding her hair with one hand and punching her face with his other first as she lost consciousness on the ground, the court heard.

“I spent the following weeks and months attending hospital and doctor appointments, and due to persistent concussion symptoms I was deemed ‘high–risk’ for a brain bleed, and I received a battery of tests including a head CT scan.” Judge O’Donnell wished Ms O’Brien well and asked her if she understood “the significance” of Crotty’s guilty plea in that it had eliminated the necessity for a trial which would have compounded her trauma, and that if Crotty had contested the case, it would have prolonged the case by approximately 18 months.

When asked by Crotty’s barrister, Junior Counsel Donal Cronin, if he had been asked by Crotty to come to court, Commandant Togher replied that, as a senior army officer, he was required to attend criminal cases involving Irish soldiers. He said this role required him to report back to superior officers on matters that may effect a soldier’s future in the forces.

“In fairness to him , he has come to court and publicly admitted his wrongdoing, and he has made a public acknowledgement of his criminality,” the judge said. However, she criticised the suspended sentence, and that, in her opinion, the court had sent “a message” to Crotty and anyone else that they could attack women in public and not be jailed. “The lack of justice is horrific, in spite of the seriously appalling cold hard evidence. There was a complete disregard for the gravity of Crotty’s actions.”

Ms O’Brien, , bravely spoke out afterwards about the impact of the attack, and, she also criticised the terms of Crotty’s sentence, imposed at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court. “Once due process has been completed in a civilian court of law it becomes a matter for the relevant Defence Forces authorities in accordance with Defence Forces Regulations. As such it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”

Defence Forces An Garda Siochana

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