Cathal Crotty, convicted of assault on Natasha O’Brien, to be discharged from Defence Forces this week

Soldier Cathal Crotty, who avoided prison last month for beating a woman unconscious on O'Connell Street in Limerick City, is to be formally discharged from the Defence Forces on Thursday.

Crotty received a suspended sentence last month for violently assaulting Limerick woman Natasha O’Brien on the street in May 2022 after she implored him to stop shouting homophobic slurs at passersby, a court heard.

The 22-year-old soldier who attacked O’Brien, 24, later boasted about it to friends on Snapchat: “Two to put her down, two to put her out,” in reference to striking Ms O’Brien four times.

Crotty also faces an appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions on grounds of sentence leniency.

He had entered a guilty plea before Judge Tom O’Donnell at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court. He initially informed gardaí that Ms O’Brien had provoked the attack, but later admitted his guilt after gardaí showed Crotty CCTV footage of the incident.

The Defence Forces began the internal dismissal process against Crotty, on 21st June, the day after he received the suspended sentence in Limerick Circuit Criminal Court. He was brought before a senior officer and informed he had seven days to “make representations” on why he should not be discharged. That period has since elapsed and now results in his dismissal from the Forces.

At the 20th June hearing Judge O’Donnell imposed a three-year suspended sentence and ordered Crotty to pay €3,000 compensation to Ms O’Brien, at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court hearing on 20th June.

The case prompted significant, widespread public and political uproar, with thousands partaking in protests around Ireland in support of Natasha O’Brien.