AN APPEAL AGAINST the undue leniency of a six-month prison sentence handed down to a man convicted of sexual assault will be heard today.

Anthony Lyons an aviation broker, had five-and-a-half years of a six-year sentence suspended last year, after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman near Griffith Avenue on Dublin’s northside in 2010.

He was also ordered to pay the 27-year-old victim €75,000 in compensation.

In November, the Director of Public Prosecutions was successful in its appeal against the leniency of the sentence but a decision on what sentence should instead be imposed was reserved.

But in the interim Mr Justice Michael Hanna became seriously ill and as a result the appeal has had to be re-heard.

Lyons admitted to the attack but had argued that a combination medication and alcohol caused him to carry out the attack.

The Court of Criminal Appeal had ruled that the sentence imposed was too lenient, citing an “error in principle”.

Read: Appeal court finds Anthony Lyons sentence too lenient >

Read: ‘Unusual sentence’ for sex offender raises doubts about system’s fairness >