The DPP is likely to appeal the leniency of a three-year sentence handed down to a Limerick teenager, who blinded a man for life after hitting him with a hurley.
Darren Frahill (19), Cosgrave Park, Moyross, was jailed at Limerick Circuit Court last Wednesday after pleading guilty to assaulting David Sheehan, causing him serious harm on January 11th, 2003, in Garryowen.
The sentencing of co-accused, Kieran Malone (20), Larkin Drive, O'Malley Park, who admitted a lesser charge of assaulting Mr Sheehan causing him harm on the same date, was adjourned for one year.
Mr Sheehan, who was 17 at the time, had both his eyeballs lacerated and was blinded permanently after Frahill hit him a "vicious blow" across the bridge of his nose, the court heard.
Before imposing the three-year sentence on Wednesday, Judge Carroll Moran described the case as "horrendous".
Judge Moran went on to describe the case as "about as serious a case as one would expect to encounter in the Circuit Court", with the exception of manslaughter.
At Limerick Circuit Court yesterday, State counsel John O'Sullivan requested transcripts of the case. This was a clear indication that the State was considering appealing against the "undue leniency" of the sentence, legal sources confirmed last night.
"The DPP has 28 days to appeal against the undue leniency of a sentence. A request for transcripts would clearly indicate that the DPP is considering such an action," one legal source said.
Judge Moran said the matter would have to be discussed in the presence of Frahill's defence counsel, Michael Maloney, and adjourned the request until Mr Maloney was in court.