Cathal Crotty: Protests over sentence for Natasha O’Brien attack

Testifying during the court case, Ms O’Brien said she had suffered nightmares and panic attacks.

The judge described the attack as a “cowardly, vicious, unprovoked” assault.

However, he said the defendant “must be given credit” for his guilty plea and told the court he had “no doubt” that if Crotty was jailed his army career is over.

Speaking outside court on Thursday, Ms O’Brien said: “It’s not justice.”

She added that Crotty had taken a pledge, when he joined the Irish Defence Forces, to “protect the citizens and civilians of Ireland”.

Ms O’Brien told BBC Radio Ulster’s Evening Extra programme on Friday that she would not have gone into court “if it had just been about me”.

“I was really, really, hoping that I would have been able to set a good example, that when you do something bad you get consequences for it – and instead our system has shown that it is broken,” she added.