The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
A 71-year-old man has been returned to prison for one year following a finding by the Court of Appeal that his two-year prison sentence for indecently assaulting two boys in the 1980s was too lenient. However, in its decision delivered today (Tuesday), the court found that the maximum penalty for indecently assaulting a male in the 1980s was two years in prison and not 10, as had been suggested. James (Tony) Maher of Clonroad Beg, Ennis, had pleaded guilty to 18 sample counts of indecently assaulting two boys in the county between January 1982 and April 1985. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment on each count to run concurrently by Judge Carroll Moran at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court on January 14 2013. The Director of Public Prosecutions successfully applied for a review of Maher’s sentence on grounds that it was unduly lenient. The Court of Appeal agreed and increased Maher’s sentence by one year. President of the Court of …
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