Press Release: DRCC welcomes the decision of DPP Appeal

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre broadly welcomes the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeal in Anthony Lyons Case.

Ellen O’Malley-Dunlop, Chief Executive of the DRCC said: The DRCC’s thoughts are first and foremost with the victim in this case and we hope that she feels that she has got justice at the end of the day.

She has shown enormous courage in staying the course of the criminal justice system. She had to wait 4 years for this day. She had to endure a full court case as Anthony Lyons pleaded not guilty and mounted a defence for the crime he committed against her. Ireland has the highest fall out of cases of sexual crimes between reporting the crime and getting to court, in a comparative study of 11 European countries.

It is a significant societal marker that the court of criminal appeal has returned Anthony Lyons to prison to serve a further 2 years which with remission and what he has already served will come to approximately, 14 months. The sentence is still a 6 years sentence.

While the court can take into consideration compensation as a mitigating factor in passing sentence we believe that this is an area that needs reform, otherwise it would seem that if you have money that you can avoid a custodial sentence and if you don’t have money you got to prison.

 

ENDS