PAEDOPHILE ROW JUDGE ‘MUST QUIT’
Outrage as judge who jailed ‘garlic man’ once again lets a horrific sex offender walk free
THOUSANDS of people are demanding the resignation of a judge who has allowed multiple sex predators to walk free.
The angry calls come as Judge Martin Nolan handed a suspend- ed sentence to a paedophile civil servant caught with 7,000 horrific images of child pornography.
More than 2,200 outraged protesters have signed a petition calling f or the controversial Circuit Court judge to be ousted from his position over the litany of suspended sentences and fines he has handed to sex attackers.
The judge, who is a former garda, has found himself in the eye of a growing public storm once again after he handed down a three-and-a-half-year
JUDGE Martin Nolan has been repeatedly criticised for what appears to be a lenient approach to sentencing sex predators.
This week, former civil servant Patrick Corcoran, who was caught with more than 7,000 images and 21 videos of child pornography, avoided jail. Corcoran pleaded guilty to possessing child porn on a work PC and laptop under his desk at what is now the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht on December 21, 2009.
He also pleaded guilty to having child pornography images in 87 A4 brown envelopes at his former home. He further pleaded guilty to having a 1,100 images and 21 videos on a laptop and hard drive on February 7, 2012. Judge Nolan handed him a three-and-a-halfyear suspended term at Dublin Cir- cuit Criminal Court on Thursday.
In July, a man who sexually assaulted his neighbour while her eight-year-old son lay in bed beside her was given a two-year suspended term by Judge Nolan.
In December, he sentenced David Sharpe, 53, of Balbriggan, Co. Dublin – who had 44 pornographic images of children on his mobile phone – to a three-year sentence, suspended in full. In October 2012, he suspended the four-year jail term handed to Graham Griffiths, then 19, of Annagassan, Co. Louth, for sexual assault on condition he pay his 18-year-old victim €15,000.
The day after, he allowed Thomas Finn, 20, from Finglas, Dublin, who repeatedly punched his neighbour Anthea Guerin until she lost consciousness, to go free after fining him €3,000. He also gave a three-year suspended term to Aidan Farrington, 45, of Glasnevin, Dublin, for sexually assaulting two of his own nieces.
Judge Nolan said having his name published in the media was ‘punishment in itself’ for Farrington.