East Donegal councillor Gary Doherty has penned an open letter to the Minister for Justice demanding mandatory sentencing guidelines for the judiciary.
The call comes after Killygordon man Richard Burke (32) was sentenced to 14 years in prison for beating mother-of-two Jasmine McMonagle to death.
Burke was found guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility due to his mental state.
Sinn Féin Cllr Doherty said the sentencing has diminished confidence in the judiciary for some members of his community.
The letter reads: “Ordinary people in Ireland should be protected from criminals.
“We should have confidence that if a person with multiple previous convictions commits a murder, they will be caught, convicted and face the prison sentence that they deserve.
“Unfortunately, we do not have that confidence right now.”
Cllr Doherty wrote that he believed that sentences being imposed on serious and repeat offenders are “inconsistent and far too lenient”.
“Longer sentences need to become the norm for serious and violent crimes. There can be no exceptions.
“I ask that you urgently issue mandatory sentencing guidelines to our judiciary to ensure that any person who takes another person’s life will face the sentence that they deserve, in recognition of the heinous crime they have committed.
“This will ensure that those criminals who commit murder/manslaughter will be given a sentence that is a fitting punishment for their crime, rather than lenient sentences for repeat offenders which have become normalised in recent times.
“Please do this for the ordinary people of Ireland so that we can regain our trust and confidence in our justice system.”
