Natasha O'Brien is determined to continue speaking out amid backlash over her being vocal about her disappointment at the sentence handed to Cathal Crotty and at her campaigning to seek changes in how judges deal with victims of crime.
Soldier Cathal Crotty (22) a serving member of the Irish Defence Forces, walked free from court in June after being given a three-year suspended sentence for the attack in which Ms O’Brien was beaten unconscious.
In the wake of the sentence, Ms O’Brien has spoken publicly about her experience and protests around the country have been staged in solidarity however she’s been receiving "an outrageous amount of backlash."
Speaking on the Left on Read podcast, she said: "I've been receiving an outrageous amount of backlash this past weekend, in regards to people saying 'would she give it a rest.' 'two [punches] to put her down, how many to shut her up?', 'she deserved it, she’s mouthy.'
"That is really frightening, this is a societal issue and people are getting frustrated that I am continuing to speak out about this? I won’t be giving it a rest, because we, as a society, are only at the start."
She continued: "We are moving forward but it is nowhere where we need to be. To any of those commentators – their hate is my motivation to keep going. The negative comments are now a driving force for me to keep going.
"It’s not OK and people thinking I should sit down and be quiet is worrying. It is raising alarms for me that there is such a lack of conversation around the justice system, around victims, around violence, that people are seriously triggered when I speak out about holding accountability for assaults."
As reported by the Irish Daily Mail on Tuesday, Ms O’Brien also said "the right thing is being done" after the Director of Public Prosecutions ordered an appeal of the suspended sentence Crotty received.
The DPP’s appeal against the sentence handed down by now-retired Limerick Circuit Court judge Tom O’Donnell was lodged due to undue leniency. It could take up to a year to come before the Court of Appeal.
Ms O’Brien said that she was buoyed by the news.
"Thank God the right thing is being done now," she commented on Monday.
However, the 24-year-old Limerick woman said many more victims of crime, particularly violent crime, do not get the opportunity to have their abuser’s sentences appealed.
"This is a step forward, but I am still at the bottom of a big mountain so I’m going to keep going," Ms O’Brien said.
"The amount of victims that have come forward to me with sentencing horror stories, and their convicted [abusers] walking free, with no hope of an appeal, is quite frightening."
Ms O’Brien said she has been advised that it can be "quite difficult for the DPP to pursue an appeal" as "sometimes they don’t have the grounds, which is very sad.
"I am almost certain that there are a far greater number of unduly lenient sentences that don’t get to that point," she said.
She said she believed that speaking out in public about Crotty’s suspended sentence had helped bring about an appeal against the term he received.
"I know the DPP is impartial to public opinion and government opinion; however, I have no doubt there would not have been an appeal had there not been a national uproar," she said.
Ms O’Brien also said she had been advised that the appeal before the three-judge Court of Appeal would not be heard until October or November. She said she had been invited to attend the appeal hearing and that a transcript from Crotty’s sentencing hearing would be made available to the court.
*This article originally appeared on Extra.ie.
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