DPP to appeal suspended rape term

A three-year suspended jail term given to a convicted rapist is to be appealed for being too lenient by the Director of Public…

A three-year suspended jail term given to a convicted rapist is to be appealed for being too lenient by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Earlier this month, Justice Paul Carney imposed the sentence on Adam Keane , 20 of Darragh Co Clare who raped Mary Shannon, 33 as she slept in her bedroom in Ennis.

The Courts Service said the appeal will be mentioned during the Court of Criminal Appeal's business on Tuesday.

"The DPP has lodged an appeal against undue leniency, in the Court of Criminal Appeal, regarding the case of the DPP v Adam Keane ," a spokesman confirmed.

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Ms Shannon waived her right to anonymity over her fury at the sentence. She also complained that she had to share a train journey with Keane on the journey between Ennis and Dublin.

The suspended jail term led to calls by several Opposition TDs and Government backbencher May Sexton for the introduction of mandatory jail terms for convicted rapists.

The Central Criminal Court heard that Keane was high on a cocktail of drink and drugs that he couldn't remember raping his victim, whose children were sleeping in adjacent bedrooms.

Citing a previous Court of Criminal Appeal decision, Justice Carney accepted defence evidence that the the offence was out of character and that Keane came from a respectable home.