Galway Advertiser 2007/2007_03_08/GA_0803_E1_012.pdf 

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12 N E W S

www.galwayadvertiser.ie

March 8 2007

Suspended sentence for man who `hammered' his pregnant wife
A mother of nine children was heavily pregnant with her 10th child when her husband assaulted her causing her harm and also threatened to kill her, Galway Circuit Criminal Court was told. The court heard that after years of physical abuse at the hands of her husband, Mrs Kathleen Ward, who was living in an undesignated halting site in a bog on the outskirts of Tuam finally went to the Gardai as she feared for the safety of her unborn child following the assault which occurred in the early hours of October 27 last year. Before the court was Martin T Ward (38), Tuam, who pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife, causing her harm and to threatening to kill her while in the presence of Sergeant Brid O'Toole. Sgt O'Toole told the court that Mrs Ward came to Tuam Garda Station in a very distressed state in the middle of the night. There were visible abrasions and bruises on her face, marks on her neck and she was limping badly. Sgt O'Toole said Mrs Ward was six month pregnant at the time and had told Gardai she had been assaulted by her estranged husband who had been drinking heavily with his brother. He had hit her repeatedly in the face until she passed out and had dragged out of their caravan while still assaulting her. She said she saw he had a hammer in his hand but his brother intervened before anything happened and took the hammer from him. Sergeant O'Toole said she called to the caravan that evening and found the accused still inside surrounding by empty beer cans. He was just waking up and as she went to arrest him for assaulting his wife, he replied that the charges would not `stick'. He also remarked that the next time he saw his wife he would kill her. Sgt. O'Toole said that while the accused was being interviewed at Tuam garda station he continued to make threats to kill his wife and was most uncooperative. Sgt O'Toole explained to Judge Raymond Groarke that the couple had nine children, six of whom are in care. "I think the situation for the victim is that there have been continuous assaults for the last few years but eventually she got the courage to come forward and make a statement of complaint. She was very distressed on the day and she came to us [Gardai] because she feared for the life of her unborn child because of the beatings she had received," Sgt. O'Toole said. The court heard the woman was now receiving help and support from the HSE and had been housed by the local authority since last week as she and her children had been in a very vulnerable situation in the caravan. Judge Groarke asked Mrs Ward what she wanted him to do with her husband in the presence of the accused. "Your husband gave you a bad hammering and he has been giving you a hard time for a number of years. At last you had the guts to come forward and made a complaint against him because of your baby. What do you want me to do with him? Do you want him to live in the house with you?" he asked the woman. Mrs Ward replied she had obtained a three-year barring order in the courts against her husband and she wanted to drop these charges, adding that she didn't want any more to do with him. Defence barrister Ms Geri Silke said Ward had a chronic drink problem but since being taken into custody he was getting help and was very sorry for the way he had treated his wife. Judge Groarke told Ward his wife was not entitled to drop the charges against him, explaining that she was witness in a prosecution case. He told Ward he wanted him to stay in prison to `dry out' before imposing a three-year sentence, backdated to October 27 last. The judge suspended the final two years and three months of the sentence on condition that following Ward's release he would keep the peace, stay off drink completely, and stay away from his wife for five years. Judge Groarke said he would change the final part of his order if the couple decided to get back together again in the interim.

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