The Court of Criminal Appeal has suspended the last four years of a 12-year prison sentence imposed on a man for a “drink-fuelled” sexual assault on a student.
The three-judge court had in 2009 allowed Brian Mulvihill’s appeal against the severity of the 12-year term imposed by Mr Justice Paul Carney after finding that he had imposed a sentence against established sentencing norms.
The court studied reports from the probation services, prison authorities and from counsellors. Mulvihill, who has spent five years in jail, could be released in 2012.