JUDGES HAVE HANDED DOWN OTHER NOTEWORTHY SENTENCES

Judge Carroll Moran, who rescinded the jail sentence on the drink-drive
garda who killed a man, has handed down a number of noteworthy sentences.
Among them are:

October 14th, 1997: A three-year suspended sentence on a school
vice-principal convicted by a jury of sexually assaulting a boy. The judge
said the 54-year-old single man escaped custodial sentence because a leading
psychiatrist said his offences were on the "lighter side" and he was
unlikely to reoffend. The man had been found guilty of one charge of sexual
assault and two of common assault.

Tuesday, July 22nd: A 15-year-old Dublin youth was given two years in an
adult prison for robbery and other offences after the judge found he was
"unruly" and unsuitable for detention in Trinity House.

January 23rd: He awarded Private Kieran Cantwell IEP3,000 for food poisoning
at Kilkenny Circuit Court. The soldier had consumed egg mayonnaise while
serving in south Lebanon in 1996.

Judge Kieran O'Connor, whose original nine-year jail sentence on Sabrina
Walsh was reduced to six years by Judge Hugh O'Flaherty, has also handed
down heavy sentences in the past. Among them are:

November 6th, 1997: Joeleen O'Brien (18), Cherry Orchard Avenue,
Ballyfermot, Dublin, pleaded guilty to her role in three robberies involving
cash and rings in Dublin city centre. Sentenced by Judge O'Connor to eight
years in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, to be reviewed in 1999 on condition
she was drug-free for six months.

October 10th, 1997: Joseph Shannon (47), Pearse House, Dublin, was initially
given six years by Judge O'Connor, who then suspended it. Guilty of stealing
Georgian doors and a fireplace.

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst