The Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday ruled that a Central Criminal Court judge erred in principle when he imposed a non-custodial sentence on a man found guilty of rape, reports The Clare Herald.3-year-old mother of three Mary Shannon was raped as she slept at her home in Ennis in May 2005. She waived her right to anonymity after Adam Keane (pictured left), from Barnageeha in Darragh, was initially given a 3-year suspended sentence for the attack. In May, the judge activated the sentence because the bricklayer flicked a cigarette in Mary Shannon's direction hours after he was sentenced.
On Wednesday, Keane had his sentence increased from three to ten years following an appeal from the DPP. In its written judgment the court found that the appeal of the leniency of the sentence by the DPP was well founded. It said that the well-established principle that a custodial sentence be handed down for the offence of rape should have been followed.
Afterwards, Mary Shannon's sister, Sarah, said she was hopeful the case would insure that no other convicted rapist would walk from court without a custodial sentence. The Court suspended three years of the ten-year sentence. Adam Keane will be subject to one year's post-release supervision.
