A Dublin man who admitted sexually molesting a sleeping woman in a Belfast hotel room three years ago has had his four-year jail term suspended for five years at Belfast Crown Court.
Ordering Eamon Mulleady to sign the sex offenders register for the rest of his life, Judge Tom Burgess said others may rail against his decision to suspend the sentence, "but the only person who is directly involved, whose life is blighted and still battles for recovery, is the only person I'm interested in when taking this decision".
The judge said that having sought out the thoughts and opinions of Mulleady's victim, "if I thought for one moment that suspending the sentence would cause more distress, then that step would simply disappear".
Mulleady (33), Beechfield Lawn, Dublin, was originally charged with rape in November 2003, but that was "left on the books" after he admitted indecently assaulting her.
Earlier Paul Ramsey QC, prosecuting, told the judge that Mulleady's guilty plea "is very much in the interests" of his victim's mental health as it has saved her having to give evidence and relive her ordeal. "She understands that the circumstances now are such that the court may well be contemplating a non-custodial disposal and she doesn't object to that," Mr Ramsey said.
John Orr QC, defending, said the guilty plea was "an attempt to try and enable both parties to have closure on this unfortunate incident and allow them to move on".
Judge Burgess told Mulleady that although the night of the incident was his first time in Northern Ireland, "I would think long and hard before coming back to this jurisdiction again".