23-YEAR-OLD former Irish soldier Cathal Crotty, who beat Limerick woman Natasha O’Brien unconscious, fled the scene and later boasted about the attack to friends on social media, has been jailed for two years.
The sentence was handed down by the Court of Appeal in Dublin after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) successfully appealed Mr Crotty’s original three-year fully suspended sentence at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court last June.
Lily Buckley BL, for the DPP, argued that the failure to impose a custodial sentence on Crotty sent the wrong message regarding society’s disapproval of such offending.
Crotty, of Parkroe Heights, Ardnacrusha, County Clare, had initially tried to wrongly blame innocent Ms O’Brien (24) by telling investigating Gardaí who arrested him that she had instigated the attack, which occurred on O’Connell Street in Limerick City on 29 May 2022.
After Gardaí showed Crotty CCTV footage of him setting upon Ms O’Brien without provocation, he admitted his guilt.
Following the attack, Crotty boasted to friends on the Snapchat social media platform: “Two to put her down, two to put her out”, in reference to his striking Ms O’Brien four times.
Crotty had been drinking alcohol throughout the evening in question, and has never given a full explanation for why he attacked Ms O’Brien.
He lashed out at Ms O’Brien after she and a friend of hers asked him to stop shouting homophobic slurs at other people on the street.
Ms O’Brien, who was not known to her attacker on the night, had been walking home with a female friend after working a shift at a pub, when Crotty grabbed her 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.
During his interviews with Gardaí, Crotty made up a story that Ms O’Brien punched him in the face first, but he later accepted this “was all wrong” after they showed him CCTV footage of the assault.
Crotty later admitted he punched Ms O’Brien four times.
Crotty told Gardaí “I hit her when she fell … I hit her again …i n her face.”
Crotty said that when he realised he had “f****d up”, he ran off.
“He said his name had been blackened around Limerick and when asked why, he replied, ‘I hit a girl – not a good look’,” prosecuting barrister Lily Buckley said.
Ms O’Brien sustained a broken nose, bruising, nightmares, and panic attacks after the brutal beating. She said she thought Crotty was “going to kill me” during the attack.
Ms O’Brien told Crotty’s original sentencing hearing: “When Cathal Crotty attacked me, I went into a state of shock, I couldn’t understand why this was happening to me, I felt completely helpless, feeling like I was being used as a punching bag, I didn’t feel human.”
“As I lay in the foetal position, and losing consciousness, he continued his relentless beating – my last conscious thought was, ‘he’s not stopping, I’m going to die’.
“The physical injuries I sustained were devastating; a severe concussion, a broken nose, severe swelling, and bruising on both arms, shoulders, head, right upper thigh, left eye, cheek, and jaw.
“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.
“I lived in constant fear that it could still result in my death. Cathal Crotty’s actions left me in a place of darkness, I have been suffering symptoms of PTSD, and I’ve had to attend multiple therapists since the attack.
“A sense of constant dread and isolation was unlike anything I have ever experienced and I spiralled into self-destructive behaviours and lost all interest and motivation for life.
“Basic tasks at work became incredibly difficult and I ultimately lost my job due to my rapidly declining performance. I became numb and detached from reality, living in perpetual fear of seeing him again.
“He may not remember, but my memory of the vicious sinister look in his eyes as he approached me will haunt me forever.
“I consider myself incredibly fortunate to be here today to have my voice heard, I am lucky to be alive and I believe the male passer-by, who intervened, saved my life.”
“I am here to seek justice, not just for myself, but to protect others from violence and malice I experienced.”
Sentencing Judge Tom O’Donnell in the original trial wished Ms O’Brien well and asked her if she understood “the significance” of Crotty’s guilty plea.
He told Ms O’Brien that Crotty’s guilty plea had eliminated the necessity for a trial which, he said, would have compounded her trauma. Judge O’Donnell said that if Crotty had contested the case, she would have been waiting at least another 18 months for a trial date.
Ms O’Brien told Judge O’Donnell that she had already not only suffered the trauma of the attack, but “two long years of trauma” waiting for the criminal case at that point.
At the time of the original sentencing hearing, which was two years after the attack, Crotty was still a Private in the Defence Forces, based at Sarsfield Barracks.
His superior at the Limerick army barracks, Commandant Paul Togher, told the hearing that Crotty had been an “exemplary”, “courteous”, “professional”, and “disciplined” officer.
When asked by Ms Buckley for his reaction to hearing the shocking evidence of the attack, Commandant Togher replied he was “exceptionally disappointed and surprised” as it was, in his opinion, “very out of character” for Crotty.
He said he was most disappointed as Crotty, as a solider, “is expected to keep people safe”.
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 and that this role required him to report back to superior officers on matters that may effect a soldier’s future in the forces.
Mr Cronin said Crotty, who was accompanied in court by his mother, was “ashamed and embarrassed and offers his apologies to the victim”.
Mr Cronin asked Judge O’Donnell not to jail Crotty as “he is at a crossroads in his life, and a custodial sentence will have very serious consequences for his life and his career.”
Judge O’Donnell said that while Crotty’s actions on the night were “utterly appalling”, he had “no doubt” that if he imposed an immediate jail sentence on Crotty, his “career (in the army) is over”.
“He took pride in striking a defenceless female in what was a cowardly, vicious, unprovoked, and totally unnecessary assault.”
Judge O’Donnell said Crotty deserved “no credit” for initially trying to deflect blame on Ms O’Brien, but that he “must be given credit” for pleading guilty.
The judge remarked that he had a “huge judgement call to make” in respect of Crotty’s future, and he had to “take into account” Crotty’s previous good character, his army career, and his early guilty plea.
“In fairness to him, he has come to court and publicly admitted his wrongdoing, and he has made a public acknowledgement of his criminality,” said Judge O’Donnell.
Deciding on a fully suspended three-year sentence, Judge O’Donnell ordered Crotty to pay €3,000 compensation to Ms O’Brien without prejudice to any potential civil court proceedings.
Speaking afterwards, Ms O’Brien, becoming emotional, said: “I lost my job because of his (Crotty’s) actions, because I was so impacted by what he did, but this judge doesn’t want to jail him because it will mean he will lose his job. That’s not justice.”
Ms O’Brien said she was glad she used her voice in court and that, at least, the public would know what Crotty had done.
However, criticising Judge O’Donnell’s decision, Ms O’Brien said that, in her opinion, the judge had sent “a message” to Crotty and anyone else that they could attack women in public and not be jailed.
She said she felt “there was no true regard given for the seriousness of his violent crimes nor the lifelong trauma I am now forced to suffer”.
Ms O’Brien said she had been re-traumatised by Judge O’Donnell’s decision not to jail Crotty.
The suspended sentence led to protests nationwide and Ms O’Brien received a standing ovation in the Dáil after she called for the courts to be more mindful of victims and stiffer sentences for people who carry out assaults on persons.
Crotty was later dismissed from the Defence Forces and started working as a warehouse operative.
Today, the Court of Appeal ruled the fully suspended three-year sentence was unduly lenient and jailed Crotty for two years.
Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy said the sentencing judge gave undue weight to mitigating factors in the case, adding that Crotty’s conduct deserved to be censured and punished in a sufficiently meaningful way and it was not.
