Monday, February 20, 2006
DPP to appeal O'Donoghue's sentence
Excellent news!RTÉ has learned that the Director of Public Prosecutions is to appeal the four-year jail sentence imposed on Wayne O'Donoghue last month for the killing of his 11-year old neighbour Robert Holohan.
Appeal papers have been lodged with the Court of Criminal Appeal.
It is thought the appeal could be heard within six months.
The sentence had angered Robert Holohan's family, particularly after his mother, Majella Holohan, had revealed in her victim impact statement that semen had been discovered on her son's body during the post mortem examination.
The prosecution had been aware of this during the trial, but the jury was not told about it because it could not be definitively established whose semen it was.
O'Donoghue's solicitor, Frank Buttimer, emphatically denied that there was any sexual motive for the killing.
Majella Holohan wrote to the DPP requesting an appeal but sources close to the case felt that that was unlikely; and it appeared that that would be the case, with the time for lodging an appeal due to run out at the close of business this evening.
However, just after 3pm today staff from the DPP's office lodged an appeal asking the Court of Criminal Appeal to review the four-year sentence.
This is terrific news. Justice must be done in any decent society and I don't personally feel justice was done with the pathetic sentence dished out to Wayne O'Donoghue.
Obviously the DPP has agreed and now hopefully justice WILL be done.
# posted by United Irelander @ 8:54 PM 
© 2008 United Irelander.
