A 53-year-old man convicted of possessing child pornography was released yesterday at the Court of Criminal Appeal after having his sentence reduced.
The pornography was discovered after gardaí seized Carl Loving's computer following a woman's complaint that he had dishonestly induced her to pay a deposit for a fitted kitchen.
In May 2005, Mr Loving, of Mountbellew Green, Lucan, received a five-year sentence, with two years suspended, for possession of child pornography.
Ruling on his appeal against severity of sentence yesterday, the three-judge court said it would reduce the jail term to one year's imprisonment and backdated that term to December 2004. As a result, Mr Loving was freed yesterday.
Mr Justice Nial Fennelly, presiding, said the court would deliver its reasons for reducing sentence at a later date.
At the Circuit Criminal Court in May 2005, Mr Loving had admitted the possession of 175 images of child pornography on September 9th, 2003, at his address at Mountbellew Green. He also admitted charges of theft and fraud.
It was accepted he knowingly had in his possession images of child pornography.
Some of the images were of girls between the ages of 7 and 14 being sexually assaulted by adults. The images also included children in naked poses.