Cathal Crotty, a soldier who managed to not serve time in prison for assaulting a woman in the city of Limerick until she was unconscious, is set to be expelled from the Defence Forces formally on the upcoming Thursday. Last month, Crotty, 22, was given a suspended sentence for his violent attack on Natasha O’Brien, 24, in public after she requested him to stop directing homophobic slurs at individuals walking by, according to court proceedings.
The previous week saw an appeal against the sentence being lodged by the Director of Public Prosecutions on the grounds that it was overly lenient. On June 21st, the day subsequent to Crotty’s reception of the suspended sentence at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court, the dismissal process against him was initiated internally by the Defence Forces.
Crotty was subsequently debriefed by a superior officer and was given a seven-day window to present reasons on why he should not be banished. The deadline has now passed and Defence Forces superiors have finalised Crotty’s dismissal. Sources indicate that he will be officially expelled from the Defence Forces come Thursday.
No strong argument against his expulsion was presented, thereby permitting the Defence Forces to formally see his removal through this week. The rules state that the dismissal procedure has to be executed “with all convenient speed”, the discharge date being fixed by the officer in charge.
DPP’s appeal being still unresolved led to part of the delay concerning Crotty’s dismissal process. However, last week, the Defence Forces received advice legally that the process could still be carried out.
Post the 2022 attack, Crotty, an army private from Ardnacrusha, County Clare, bragged about assaulting Ms. O’Brien to his friends on Snapchat, expressing “Two to put her down, two to put her out”- a reference to how he smacked Ms. O’Brien four times. Considering the potential ramifications a jail sentence might have on Crotty’s military career, Judge Tom O’Donnell granted a three-year suspended sentence and instructed Crotty to compensate Ms. O’Brien €3,000 during the Limerick Circuit Criminal Court session on June 20th. The notable public and political furore triggered by the case led to numerous people demonstrating in solidarity with Ms. O’Brien.
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