Jay Donnelly handed prison sentence for sharing indecent image of child
Cliftonville striker gets four month jail term
An Irish League footballer has been handed a four-month jail sentence for distributing an indecent image of a child.
23-year-old Cliftonville striker Jay Donnelly, of Ardilea Drive in Belfast, was convicted of the charge last November.
At a sentencing hearing at Belfast Magistrates' Court on Thursday, it emerged Donnelly took an "extremely intimate'' photograph of a 16-year-old girl during sexual intercourse on June 21, 2016.
Donnelly shared the photograph with a friend and also with a WhatsApp group which included fellow Cliftonville players.
The image was leaked on Facebook four months later.
The court heard the girl felt humiliated and was subjected to verbal abuse on the street.
A defence barrister for Donnelly said his client was "mortified'' at the photograph being leaked on Facebook and the impact it had on the victim.
He said Donnelly expressed regret about his actions from his first police interview.
The lawyer described his client's actions as a "foolish ill-thought-out act of bravado'' and said his client's footballing career has been left in "jeopardy.''
He added that before this incident his client had been an "exemplary professional'' and a "role model.''
District Judge Amanda Henderson said she found the case to be "such a gross invasion of privacy that the only appropriate sentence was an immediate custodial sentence.''
The judge sentenced Donnelly to four months in prison to gasps of shock from his family.
Donnelly was granted bail ahead of an appeal.
He made no comment to waiting media as he left court.