Soldier beats a woman unconscious, gets a great reference from his commanding officer, avoids jail.

Ok so perhaps it wasn't an actual lie (which makes sense as otherwise they'd presumably be guilty of perjury) but IMO that doesn't say anything good about their character either. A refusal to testify about someone who beat a woman in an unprovoked attack is, in itself, very telling.

He didn't, he was called as a witness as to the conduct of Crotty in the df. The prosecution also got to question him.

Jesus christ, the majority of the thread has been taken up with this back and forth.

He expressed an opinion that beating up a woman in an unprovoked attack after an evening out drinking was "out of character". How could Togher's experience of Crotty from being his superior officer possibly provide him with that level of insight into Crotty's character? That was speculation - and should have been taken as nothing more than evidence of how poor Togher's judgment of character actually was. Instead it was taken on faith by the judge. Very strange.

Indeed....I think any reasonable person would in fact think it was excessively lenient…

That is if you compare it to what a reasonable person would think the consequences of such an act should be

Now if you compare it to other sentences handed down in this country for similar acts then maybe it isn't excessively lenient

There's the problem imo

I was staggered to read that.

It seems the DPP was OK with a suspended sentence. What sentence did Counsel for the DPP expect beforehand?

Of course, but that's not how they see it. As his Dad explained to us, if the media hadn't picked up on this, his son would have walked away with hardly a scratch on him.

A criminal record is a great barrier to anyone's future unless they fancy a lucrative career in one of our notorious worldwide import/distribution organisations in which case it would be a badge of honour. Why do you think he boasted on social media about this?

Crotty's father is an enabler and stupid into the bargain. Yes it's all the media fault, not his son's fault or the judges for turning it into a national story . No wonder the son is the way he is with a parent who won't put the blame where it lies. A good parent would recognise their child messed up and hold them to account.

any type decent parent would be disgusted snd horrified at what their child had done here.

The "mans" obviously a coward and a fool , unsuitable to be allowed among the general public and for public service especially armed service

jail him for his crime and exclude him from service as unsuitable ,

the publicity is a good thing it exposes further the disgustingly poor service that judges give the people in this country

Not a chance. This incident will be forgotten about quick enough.

He also raised a son who thinks knocking a woman out is something to be proud of. I don't know anything about this family but I'm getting the picture.

No. In general he cannot be tried twice for the same event. In general military courts only deal with issues that happen while on duty or in a barracks.

There is/was a military prison in the Curragh but not sure if it's still in use. It would be rare enough that it would have been occupied.

During my time I know of just two people who spent time in it.

This defensive thing is engrained into our culture. If anyone wants to check it out eg just go to a parent -even the mother- and complain/report that her son is constantly ‘picking’ at her son , shoving him for no reason, taking his rubber, etc, etc, etc, etc and see what the reaction will be. It will start off like ‘How dare you——————‘