Swords Man gets 8 months for slapping woman on bum

RATM

This is quite in contrast to yesterdays rape case where the perpetrator pleaded guilty and still walked free.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/man-23-slapped-woman-on-bottom-to-get-a-thrill-3361489.html

A MAN who followed a woman and slapped her on her bottom "to get a thrill" and because "she had a nice bum" has been sentenced to eight months.

Sean Cullen (23), pictured, followed the woman who was out walking on a summer's evening last July and when he caught up with her, he slapped her bottom.

He told gardai he was under the influence of drugs at the time and was deeply apologetic.

Cullen, of Ashton Avenue, Ashton Brock in Swords, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty at Balbriggan District Court to sexual assault on July 26, 2011, at Drynam Road in Swords. Judge Dempsey said he could not avoid a custodial sentence, despite defence solicitor Fiona Darcy asking for community service, as it was a "terrifying ordeal for the young lady".

He imposed an eight-month prison sentence but released Cullen on his own recognisance of €400 and independent surety of €200 after Cullen immediately lodged an appeal to the sentence.

Garda Colum Donohoe earlier gave evidence that the 27-year-old woman was out walking when she became aware of a male following her.

"She began to walk faster and he sped up, and when she slowed down, he slowed down.

"She rang her boyfriend and while she was on the phone, the defendant came up behind her and slapped her on the bum. The woman's boyfriend arrived and confronted the man and called gardai," he added.

Cullen was arrested by gardai on December 12, 2011, and told gardai he "slapped her on the ass to get a thrill" and "she had a nice bum".

"He says it won't happen again," said Ms Darcy. "He has learnt his lesson to stay away from drugs."

Despite his "she had a nice bum" comments which try to lighten the situation it is obvious that she would have been totally freaked out by him stalking her and intimidating her. She could only have thought that he might be a rapist. He won't be doing it again after he's spent his 8 months inside the slammer.

ITS_A_BADGER

i think he got a bum deal

BUBBLE WRAP

I do it the whole time in the club. :cool:

RATM

RATM wrote: »

This is quite in contrast to yesterdays rape case where the perpetrator pleaded guilty and still walked free.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/man-23-slapped-woman-on-bottom-to-get-a-thrill-3361489.html



Despite his "she had a nice bum" comments which try to lighten the situation it is obvious that she would have been totally freaked out by him stalking her and intimidating her. She could only have thought that he might be a rapist. He won't be doing it again after he's spent his 8 months inside the slammer.

I wish that judge would have a word with Justice Carney.

Death and Taxes

RATM wrote: »

This is quite in contrast to yesterdays rape case where the perpetrator pleaded guilty and still walked free.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/man-23-slapped-woman-on-bottom-to-get-a-thrill-3361489.html



Despite his "she had a nice bum" comments which try to lighten the situation it is obvious that she would have been totally freaked out by him stalking her and intimidating her. She could only have thought that he might be a rapist. He won't be doing it again after he's spent his 8 months inside the slammer.

He also walked free, recognisances were fixed for an appeal.

Dyr

Did he have previous?

KungPao

Just goes to show that the law is an ass.

staker

Now there's a neanderthal:rolleyes:

DrumSteve

Me thinks when he ends up in prison hes gonna be the one with the sore arse.

Menas

He should have just given the old "she had a deadly spider climbing up her thigh and I slapped it off to try to save her life" defence.

Frank Black

Bambi wrote: »

Did he have previous?

Yep, he once looked at a co-worker's cleavage.

DundalkDuffman

Really? All the times I read pics or gtfo and not here? Come on AH, you're slipping

Grayson

Drunk guy spanks woman. Ok, technically it's a sexual assault, but not of the 8 months in prison variety. 6 months suspended sentence would be grand.

Boombastic

He must have had no money.



Sure they all have lovely bottoms :pac:

DrumSteve

Grayson wrote: »

Drunk guy spanks woman. Ok, technically it's a sexual assault, but not of the 8 months in prison variety. 6 months suspended sentence would be grand.

Oddly enough if it was the other way around I wonder what sentence would have been given?

Mickeroo

Boombastic wrote: »

He must have had no money.



Sure they all have lovely bottoms :pac:

She call me Mr. Boombastic say me really fantastic, touch me on me butt
she say I'm Mr. Roo....Roo...mantic...

Baneblade

she should have turned the other cheek

Grayson

DrumSteve wrote: »

Oddly enough if it was the other way around I wonder what sentence would have been given?

24 hours of OH YEAH!

FouxDaFaFa

I think the issue is more that he followed her for quite a considerable amount of time. She must have been scared to death.

Also, he won't serve any of his sentence.

Mr Simpson

OP did you read the article? He also appealed and was released.

Grayson

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

I think the issue is more that he followed her for quite a considerable amount of time. She must have been scared to death.

Also, he won't serve any of his sentence.

How can you know? None of the sentence was suspended. As it stands now, before the appeal (Assuming nothing is changed) he has to go to jail.

byronbay2

DrumSteve wrote: »

Oddly enough if it was the other way around I wonder what sentence would have been given?

It's actually a sexual assault to even ask that question - that's 6 months in jail for you DrumSteve. Please hand yourself in to your local Garda station within 72 hours!

Boombastic

Mickeroo wrote: »

She call me Mr. Boombastic say me really fantastic, touch me on me butt
she say I'm Mr. Roo....Roo...mantic...

Lucky I didn't end up in the dock for that :pac::pac:

DrumSteve

byronbay2 wrote: »

It's actually a sexual assault to even ask that question - that's 6 months in jail for you DrumSteve. Please hand yourself in to your local Garda station within 72 hours!

Aye we are all equal but some moreso than others.

Anyway good to see the judge take this seriously.

BillJ

RATM wrote: »

Sean Cullen (23), pictured, followed the woman who was out walking on a summer's evening last July and when he caught up with her, he slapped her bottom.

No picture in that article, I think the independent have done some top quality copy and pasting again

Jarren

BillJ wrote: »

No picture in that article, I think the independent have done some top quality copy and pasting again

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/man-gets-eight-months-in-jail-for-slapping-woman-on-bum-for-the-thrill-of-it-3361257.html

From themselves :pac:

BillJ

Jarren wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/man-gets-eight-months-in-jail-for-slapping-woman-on-bum-for-the-thrill-of-it-3361257.html

From themselves :pac:

Haha good spot, they really need to hire a proof reader

john_cappa

http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/250x250/23996451.jpg


OT but why do i not have an icon to embed that image?

Jimminy Mc Fukhead

I bet the two of them will end up getting married.

And this whole thing will be amusing anecdote for the children/grandchildren.

Madam_X

Seems too extreme a sentence IMO.

DrumSteve wrote: »

Aye we are all equal but some moreso than others.

Yep, the sentencing of Patrick O'Brien is a good example of that. Oh and Anthony Lyons.

CruelCoin

RATM wrote: »

This is quite in contrast to yesterdays rape case where the perpetrator pleaded guilty and still walked free.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/man-23-slapped-woman-on-bottom-to-get-a-thrill-3361489.html



Despite his "she had a nice bum" comments which try to lighten the situation it is obvious that she would have been totally freaked out by him stalking her and intimidating her. She could only have thought that he might be a rapist. He won't be doing it again after he's spent his 8 months inside the slammer.

Was it a light tap, or a "power from the feet up, whallop" ?

Frank Black

Jimminy Mc Fukhead wrote: »

I bet the two of them will end up getting married.

And this whole thing will be amusing anecdote for the children/grandchildren.

Cast Owen Wilson as the guy and Jennifer Anniston as the girl and the Hollywood screenplay practically writes itself.

Gone Drinking

It's not the slap on the arse that got him that sentence.

It's the terror/fear he put into that poor woman as she knew he was following her. What she must have felt in the minutes up to and after the slap would be terrifying, as she didn't know he just wanted to slap her arse (if that's really all he wanted to do, the weirdo).

DrumSteve

Madam_X wrote: »

Seems too extreme a sentence IMO.

Yep, the sentencing of Patrick O'Brien is a good example of that. Oh and Anthony Lyons.

Not sure how that is relevant at all here to be honest. One would have probably been released on appeal anyway unfortunately and the other guy bought his way out of prison IIRC.(also feel free to quote the rest of my post which applauded the judge on the sentencing in this case. )

My point was would we treat this with the same seriousness if a woman did this to a man?

FoxT

Sentencing for sexual assault seems to be very erratic.

Guy gets 8 months for slapping a woman on the bum, while yesterday, a man walked free after a pleading guilty to sexually assaulting his own daughter for a ten year period.

This is completely incomprehensible,

Madam_X

DrumSteve wrote: »

Not sure how that is relevant at all here to be honest. One would have probably been released on appeal anyway unfortunately and the other guy bought his way out of prison IIRC.(also feel free to quote the rest of my post which applauded the judge on the sentencing in this case. )

My point was would we treat this with the same seriousness if a woman did this to a man?

I know that was your point. And my point was, given your quote "We are all equal but some moreso than others": the female victims in those cases ain't gonna be seeing a bias in favour of women when it comes to justice. That quote is applicable to the likes of Anthony Lyons, not just women who are treated more leniently on the basis of their gender. But yes, if it were the other way around, the woman would probably get away with it. I did see you applauded the judge, but that wasn't relevant to my point. I don't applaud the judge btw, I think it was too harsh.

kopkidda

I would like to see pictorial evidence of said "arse" before I comment any further

Cienciano

The indo is shíte. If the story was in the daily mail they'd have a picture of the bum

JustAddWater

they all have lovely bottoms

DrumSteve

Madam_X wrote: »

I know that was your point. And my point was, given your quote "We are all equal but some moreso than others": the female victims in those cases ain't gonna be seeing a bias in favour of women when it comes to justice. That quote is applicable to the likes of Anthony Lyons, not just women who are treated more leniently on the basis of their gender. But yes, if it were the other way around, the woman would probably get away with it. I did see you applauded the judge, but that wasn't relevant to my point. I don't applaud the judge btw, I think it was too harsh.

Yeah Id agree with you on the Lyons sentencing, was a disgrace to be honest.

byronbay2

FoxT wrote: »

Sentencing for sexual assault seems to be very erratic.

Guy gets 8 months for slapping a woman on the bum, while yesterday, a man walked free after a pleading guilty to sexually assaulting his own daughter for a ten year period.

This is completely incomprehensible,

Just so everyone understands, he walked free from the court yesterday because he was released on bail pending an appeal to a 12-year jail sentence with 9 years suspended. He does have a jail term hanging over him, unless his appeal is successful.

2ndcoming

If ever there was a time to use the "Gummy Venus De Milo defence", it's here surely!

Agricola

Crazy stuff. Does this mean if a woman gets a bit jittery after being wolf whistled, the perpetrator could find himself landed with a couple of weeks in the nick / community service / heavy fine!

shoos

Agricola wrote: »

Crazy stuff. Does this mean if a woman gets a bit jittery after being wolf whistled, the perpetrator could find himself landed with a couple of weeks in the nick / community service / heavy fine!

He was stalking her to the point she felt so frightened she took out her phone to call someone for help.

Do you not see how intimidating that can be

StormWarrior

People keep saying that he only wanted to slap her bum, but we don't know that. He had been stalking her for so long that she, in terror, phoned her boyfriend, who arrived quickly enough to catch the perpetrator. If the boyfriend hadn't turned up, the sexual assault may have been more serious. Who stalks a woman just to slap her bum? We don't know what the perpetrator had in mind.

I agree that the sentencing is erratic and seems unfair when the daughter rapist got off, but leaving that aside, I think 8 months is fair for what he did. when I was a student, I was once cornered in a dark street by four men who then proceeded to grope my bottom. I was so scared to go out after that that I ended up dropping out of university so that I wouldn't have to walk those streets any more. Being drunk is NO excuse. If he can't control himself when drunk he shouldn't drink. What next - if he'd raped her would we say it's unfair to send him to prison as he was drunk? A deterrent needs to be in place that it's not ok to sexually assault anyone ever, even if to some a slap on the bum doesn't seem much.

efb

Both are on bail pending appeal

seamus

If a man was followed down a dark path by a group of scumbags who then punched him in the back of the head and walked off with his wallet, they would get 6 months, at most, suspended.

And that man would be no less terrified than the woman in this story.

Yes, it has to be recognised that what he did would instil fear in her, but the judge has definitely given far too much weight to that. A two-year good behaviour order and a small fine to a charity for victims of sexual assault seems like it would be far more proportionate.

StormWarrior

seamus wrote: »

If a man was followed down a dark path by a group of scumbags who then punched him in the back of the head and walked off with his wallet, they would get 6 months, at most, suspended.

And that man would be no less terrified than the woman in this story.

That isn't enough either. It doesn't matter whether the victim is male or female, I would like to see the perpetrators of violence and intimidating behaviour get serious punishments that would act as a real deterrent.

shoos

seamus wrote: »

If a man was followed down a dark path by a group of scumbags who then punched him in the back of the head and walked off with his wallet, they would get 6 months, at most, suspended.

And that man would be no less terrified than the woman in this story.

Yes, it has to be recognised that what he did would instil fear in her, but the judge has definitely given far too much weight to that. A two-year good behaviour order and a small fine to a charity for victims of sexual assault seems like it would be far more proportionate.

If you were stalked by a group of scumbags and hit in the back of the head, would you be happy if when brought to court they were all given two-year good behaviour order and a small fine? Would that give them or others like them any kind of deterrent?

Instead of saying the sentence in her case was too much, I think the sentence in all these kind of cases are too little.

Physical and/or sexual violence both need to be taken far more seriously.

seamus

shoos wrote: »

If you were stalked by a group of scumbags and hit in the back of the head, would you be happy if when brought to court they were all given two-year good behaviour order and a small fine? Would that give them or others like them any kind of deterrent?

No, because it's a worse crime. Serious assault and theft versus a slap on the arse.

Intent is really important and we have to be careful not to let our emotion cloud this.
While it doesn't excuse what he did, it's clear that he did not intend to cause the women any fear nor any physical harm.

Chuck Stone

You should really only slap your partner's bum.

Like this.