Legal figures defend Judge O’Connor from Tom Humphries backlash

The ex-sports journalist for The Irish Times was jailed for two and a half years after Dublin Circuit Criminal Court found him guilty of grooming and engaging in sexual acts with a teenage girl over three years.

Senior Sinn Féin TD Mary Lou McDonald told the Dáil that the length of the sentence had “brought the judiciary into disrepute”.

However, a Circuit Criminal Court judge has hit back, calling this “a disgraceful slur on the judiciary but more particularly on Judge O’Connor, who is extremely highly regarded in terms of victim empathy”.

The judge, not named by The Irish Times, added: “It has left many here extremely disappointed and unhappy, I have to say.”

He also said media reports about Judge O’Connor’s alleged sympathy for Mr Humphries was a single line which had been “taken out of context” from her “lengthy sentencing remarks”.

Anne Marie Lawlor SC said Judge O’Connor had a “well-deserved reputation” of being “extremely strong on the role of victims in the process”, and Seán Gillane SC agreed she had “almost unrivalled experience as a practitioner in terms of prosecuting cases like this”.

Ms Lawlor: “In respect of the final custodial sentence, most practitioners would be of the view that it was an appropriate sentence in light of the penalties available to the court and the manner in which the court was obliged to have regard to the mitigating and aggravating factors.”