Lengthy custodial sentences for prolonged sexual abuse of daughters by father

The Court of Appeal, reviewing a case originally heard in the Kilkenny Circuit Court, found the sentences imposed for sexual assault by a father against his two daughters to be unduly lenient. The original court had sentenced the father to an effective post-mitigation carceral sentence of 4 years and 6 months' imprisonment. The Court of Appeal determined that the headline sentences were too low and that the principle of totality was misapplied, leading to a disproportionate sentence. The Court of Appeal quashed the original sentences and imposed new sentences of 6 years' imprisonment for each victim, with certain counts taken into consideration, resulting in a cumulative period of 12 years' imprisonment, adjusted for the principle of totality and the respondent's age.