A former Hurling Coach from Ennis has had a sentence for abusing boys increased by the Court of Criminal Appeal.
The Director of Public Prosecutions had appealed the sentence saying that the two years handed down to – James Maher from Clonroad Beg in Ennis – in January of 2013 was too lenient.
71 year old James "Tony" Maher was convicted of 18 counts of abusing two boys having pleaded guilty to the crimes which took place between 1982 and 1985
Ennis Circuit Court Judge Carroll Moran said the former chairman, PRO and founder member of the Banner GAA club carried out a breach of trust in abusing his victims, one of whom he had coached on underage hurling sides in Ennis.
As he was sentenced to two years in prison, James Tony Maher's victims described him as a monster with both saying they had attempted suicide in the years after the abuse stopped and had become addicted to alcohol.
The DPP appealed the leniency of this sentence and following today's ruling by the court of criminal appeal his jail term has now been increased by one year to a total of three years inprisonment
