The Court of Appeal will today hear a challenge to the suspended sentence handed down to former Irish soldier Cathal Crotty for beating a woman unconscious.
The appeal is being brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions who will argue that the sentence he received for the unprovoked attack was unduly lenient.
Last June, 22-year-old Cathal Crotty, from Ardnacrusha, Co Clare, received a three year fully suspended sentence for assault causing harm to Natasha O’Brien.
Their paths crossed on O’Connell St in Limerick city almost three years ago when Ms O’Brien called him out for shouting homophobic slurs at people.
Crotty, then a member of the Irish Defence Forces, responded by launching into a vicious, unprovoked attack that left her unconscious on the ground.
He later boasted on Snapchat that, “it took two to put her down; two to put her out”
After learning of how it could affect his career in the army, the judge decided to fully suspend his sentence, a decision that led to nationwide protests.
Last July, the DPP decided to appeal the sentence on the grounds of undue leniency, and that hearing is due to take place later this morning (10.30am).