Jay Donnelly jailed for three months
Judge reduces Cliftonville footballer's sentence but declines to suspend it
Last updated 9th Apr 2019
Irish League footballer Jay Donnelly has been jailed for sharing an indecent image of a child.
A judge hearing the striker's sentence appeal at Belfast County Court reduced his original jail term from four months to three today (Tuesday) morning.
But Judge David McFarland declined to suspend the sentence, insisting a custodial term was appropriate, given the need to send out a strong "deterrent'' to others.
Cliftonville FC player Donnelly (23) of Ardilea Drive in Belfast, admitted the charge in November at Belfast Magistrates' Court.
He had been on bail pending the outcome of the appeal against his original sentence.
On Tuesday, family and friends wept in the public gallery of the court as Judge McFarland ordered Donnelly to be taken down to the cells ahead of being transported to prison.
In June 2016, Donnelly took a photograph of himself having sex with a 16-year-old girl who was wearing a Cliftonville shirt with his name and number on the back.
He shared the image with a friend and with a number of fellow players on the messaging service WhatsApp. It was later leaked on social media.
Judge McFarland said the incident had had a deep and lasting impact on the victim.
He said Donnelly had treated the girl as a "sexual conquest or trophy'' and had taken and shared the picture to "boast about his sexual exploits to friends''.
The judge noted that the image would be online forever.
"It remains forever on the worldwide web, it's incapable of deletion,'' he said.
Donnelly showed no emotion as he was told he was going to jail. One supporter called out "we love you Jay'' as he was led away by court guards.
The Irish Football Association (IFA) said it would now consider whether Donnelly had brought the game into disrepute.
In a statement, the IFA said: "Following his sentencing, the Irish FA will now consider a charge against Jay Donnelly of bringing the game into disrepute.
"The safeguarding of children remains the highest priority of the association and our sympathy is with the victim and her family in this case."
An NSPCC Northern Ireland spokeswoman said: "Sharing indecent images of a child is a serious offence, reflected in the custodial sentence imposed on Donnelly by the court.
"The children in images distributed in this way are victims of crime and the NSPCC is campaigning for more to be done to prevent adults from sharing such material on social media and for providers to do more to remove it from their platforms."