Judge Tom O’Donnell, who controversially handed a three-year suspended sentence to a 22-year-old soldier who brutally assaulted a woman in Limerick two years ago, is set to retire this week. The decision has sparked widespread outrage, particularly among advocates for women’s rights, who highlight the pervasive issue of lenient sentencing for violence against women, sexual assault, and child abuse across Ireland.
Judges across the island of Ireland are regularly handing down suspended sentences for crimes involving violence against women, sexual assault, and child abuse. This alarming trend suggests that women’s safety, and childrens, is often considered secondary to the careers and lives of male perpetrators. Men who breach protection orders and barring orders frequently receive minimal consequences, leaving their victims retraumatised and in constant fear.
We must stand behind all victims of violence, including those whose suffering occurs behind closed doors and goes unreported due to family court privacy. Breaches of protection orders, violence, and lenient suspended sentences are happening every week in our family courts. We must demand better for women and children, as the home remains the most dangerous place for a woman. It’s time to ensure that our legal system offers the protection and justice they deserve.
Women are struggling to protect themselves and their children from ongoing abuse and violence, only to see judges respond with suspended sentences. The judicial system seems to be waiting for more tragic outcomes, as has been seen when women’s fears are dismissed and diminished.
We urgently need a trauma-informed legal system and an end to misogyny within the judiciary. Women deserve to be better protected and to be believed when they express fear for their lives. We cannot wait for more tragedies to occur before taking action. The time to act is now. It is essential to properly train those who deal with men’s violence against women, coercive control, and other forms of abuse, whether in the home, in public, or in the workplace. Women’s safety and justice must be prioritised without delay.
In the recent case, Cathal Crotty pleaded guilty to assaulting 24-year-old Natasha O’Brien on Limerick’s O’Connell Street in May 2022. The attack left Ms. O’Brien with severe injuries, including concussion and panic attacks, which forced her to quit her job and live in constant fear. Crotty, a soldier based at Sarsfield Barracks in Limerick, boasted about the attack on social media.
Ms. O’Brien condemned the lack of a custodial sentence, stating it denied her justice and sent a dangerous message that attacking women is acceptable and will not result in jail time. Thousands of us marched in Limerick, Cork, and Dublin in solidarity with Natasha, and all victims of men’s violence demanding an end to gender-based violence and criticising the judicial system’s tolerance of such crimes through lenient sentences.
Judge O’Donnell’s comments during sentencing added to the distress. He remarked that Ms. O’Brien was “lucky” Crotty pleaded guilty, a statement that diminishes the severity of the violence and her trauma. Such remarks are not only unhelpful but also highlight a judicial system that lacks trauma-informed training necessary to protect victims adequately.
Judge O’Donnell, who has served in the legal system in Limerick for nearly 50 years, confirmed weeks ago that his last day on the bench would be June 26. Despite the public outcry, the timing of his retirement remains unconnected to the recent backlash.
Political and civic leaders, along with advocacy groups, have criticised Judge O’Donnell’s decision. While he described the assault as appalling, vicious, cowardly, and unprovoked, he cited Crotty’s guilty plea, lack of previous offenses, and the potential end of his army career as reasons for not imposing a custodial sentence.
Everyone deserves to feel safe.
If you are experiencing any form of domestic abuse, coercive control or violence please reach out to the following …
Women’s Aid click here or call 1800 341 900
Safe Ireland, click here or call 090 6479078
An Garda Siochana, click here or call 112 or 999
