Áras Attracta sentence appeal to be heard in October

An appeal by a clinical nurse manager against the sentence imposed on him after he was found guilty of assaulting a resident in Áras Attracta will take place in October.
Patrick McLoughlin of Lalibela, Mayfield, Claremorris, is appealing the severity of the four month prison sentence he received in February after he was found guilty of assault of a resident in the HSE-run Áras Attracta complex in Swinford, in November 2014.
Charges of assault against the accused arose from filming at Bungalow 3 of the Áras Attracta complex carried out covertly by RTÉ’s Investigations Unit.
Mr McLoughlin had pleaded not guilty to the charge but was convicted by Judge Mary Devins and sentenced to four months imprisonment. He was also ordered by Judge Mary Devins to pay €1,000 to his victim’s personal fund to be spent on things she enjoys such as having her hair done and going on outings.
Mr McLoughlin appeared before last week’s sitting of Castlebar Circuit Court where he is appealing the severity of the sentence.
Mr Conal McCarthy, counsel for Mr McLoughlin, asked the court to adjourn the appeal until October to allow medical evidence to be presented before the court. He said he would like all the evidence to be heard in one sitting and proposed adjourning the appeal.
Mr Patrick Reynolds, counsel for the prosecution, said the state would be producing CCTV evidence and expected the appeal to take 20 minutes for the facts to be heard.
Judge Rory MacCabe agreed it would be better for all the details of the appeal to be heard in one sitting and adjourned the appeal until the October sittings of the Circuit Court.