Irish soldier jailed for assault after suspended sentence overturned

The original sentence sparked protests in four cities across the Republic of Ireland, and Ms O’Brien said at the time “its not justice”.

Ms Justice Kennedy said the sentencing judge gave undue weight to mitigating factors in the case and that Crotty’s conduct deserved to be censured and punished in a sufficiently meaningful way.

She described the attack as cowardly and described how Crotty ran from the scene, leaving Ms O’Brien bloody and injured.

Crotty was dismissed from his job at the Defence Forces, and the consequences of a custodial sentence had been considered by the sentencing judge.

However, Ms Justice Kennedy said the impact of the custodial sentence on Crotty’s career in the army was “negligible”.

She described the attack as a “brutal, unprovoked assault on a defenceless woman”.

His conduct was compounded when he posted a message on Snapchat about the attack, the motive for which Ms Justice Kennedy described as incomprehensible.

She also said that mitigation did include Crotty submitting a signed plea of guilty, but only when presented with CCTV evidence after having initially claimed Ms O’Brien had instigated the attack.

She said Crotty had demonstrated shame and remorse, including offering the victim €3,000 (£2,500) compensation.

But she said the court would quash the original sentence and impose its own.