Parents are jailed for 'relentless abuse' of their children
The case was heard at Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court.
A husband and wife have been jailed for the “relentless abuse” of their children.
The man, aged in his 50s, and the woman, aged in her 40s, were sentenced before Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court.
Secret audio recordings captured the scale and brutality of their crimes. The parents could be heard striking and screaming vile abuse at their children who were often crying during the recordings.
The offences occurred against six of their children at a house in the West of Ireland on various dates between January 2018 and October 2021. The children ranged in age from one to 17 when the offending took place. The defendants cannot be named to protect the identity of the children.
The matter was originally listed for trial last May with the mother of the children pleading guilty to two counts of child cruelty before the trial got underway.
Her husband pleaded not guilty to six counts of child cruelty and one count of assault causing harm. However, three days into the jury trial before Judge Sinead McMullan, he changed his plea following evidence from his two eldest children. The man pleaded guilty to four counts of child cruelty with the assault charge withdrawn.
The investigating garda outlined the facts of the case at the sentencing hearing. On October 10, 2021, the two eldest children walked into a garda station and requested to speak to Gardaí urgently. They had fled from their home that morning and reported ongoing physical and emotional abuse at the hands of their parents.
The eldest girl reported that her three-year-old brother had been assaulted by their mother that morning for “making a mess of his room”. The girl had discreetly made audio recordings of her parents’ abuse and played it to Gardaí who became concerned for the safety of the children. A total of 188 recordings had been made with 29 played in court.
Following the allegations, Gardaí attended the family home. When they arrived, there was no parent present. A 10-year old girl was minding her three-year-old brother in the sitting room while her mother was grocery shopping.
Gardaí noted that the house was “extraordinarily neat and tidy” for a home with six children. There was a list on the kitchen table with the children’s names and assigned chores.
Around 30 minutes after Gardaí arrived, the children’s mother returned home with two of her other kids. When officers outlined the allegations that had been made, she called her eldest children “vindictive liars”.
Specialist interviews were carried out with the children. The eldest son told Gardaí that on October 10, 2021, he had awoken at 6am and could hear his mother shouting. He said his mother was throwing toys at his three-year-old brother.
He said there was an altercation between his mother and her eldest daughter and his mother was waving a scissors at his sister. The boy said he stood between them and his mother left the room.
The boy disclosed to Gardaí that from the age of five or six his father physically assaulted him. It would involve his father striking him over the head with an open hand. He recalled his father hitting him with a belt on his legs and buttocks, while the boy was both dressed and undressed.
The boy reported that on August 14, 2021, he had an argument with his mother before going to his part-time job. While at work, he received a message from his sister telling him that their father was going to collect him on his own. When he finished work, he got into the car with his father and said he was poked in the eye before his dad punched him in the face with a closed fist. The boy’s nose started to bleed, and he had tears in his eyes.
His father drove them home and once they arrived at the house, he was assaulted again in the car. The boy became dazed and believed he lost consciousness, falling as he got out of the car.
His father carried him into the house, and an ambulance was called for. The boy disclosed to paramedics and hospital staff that his father assaulted him and a Tusla investigation was launched.
The boy described his father as being ‘in control’ of the house and his mother never said no to her husband.
The eldest girl told Gardaí that her father would assault her using his open hand or a belt. She said her mother would make comments about her body and tell her she was the “problem in the house” and would make her feel unwanted and unloved.
She described her mother as being very violent towards her brothers and detailed how her father threatened to kill her and punch her following an altercation she had with her mother.
The girl said she had seen her father throw toys at her younger brothers and slap them hard on the back. She said her food intake was monitored.
The second eldest daughter recalled being hit by her parents with her father striking her with a belt. She said when her younger brother stuck out his tongue after walking on a wet floor, her mother hit him on the head and also struck the youngest child even though he had done nothing wrong.
She said she was hit more when she was younger and it would occur every night if she did not go to sleep.
The girl said her younger brother would often flinch around his father as he was afraid of being hit. She recalled a conversation between her parents where her mother was concerned that social workers would see the boy flinch if her husband was near him.
The girl’s younger sister told Gardaí that she was assaulted by her father from the age of five or six. She said she was slapped most days of the week.
The second youngest child, who was four at the time of specialist interview, told Gardaí that his mother didn't like him and that “Daddy isn’t nice, and Daddy hits him”.
Distressing audio recording of the abuse were played in court. Slapping and smacking noises and verbal abuse can be heard on the recordings.
Both parents are roaring and shouting at the children. During one recording, the children’s father can be heard calling his eldest daughter a “moody little bitch”.
“Is it any wonder you have got no friends,” he tells the girl.
He said he was embarrassed to have children that are “f***ing gobshites”.
On another recording, the man can be heard counting to five and administering a smack on each count to one his younger sons.
A recording was played in court in which he could be heard telling a 999 operator that his son had tripped and fallen following the incident in the family car which left the boy unconscious.
In a further recording, his wife becomes irate that her lunch is being disturbed and screams at her children to “get out of my space now”.
On another section of audio, a young child can be heard crying and saying ‘Mama mad at me’. The woman is also heard on a separate recording attempting to coach her eldest son ahead of an interview with Tusla. She carried out a “mock interview” following the incident with his father that left the boy unconscious.
Victim impact statements from four of the children were read out in court.
The eldest boy said fear was constant and his home felt like a prison. He said he spent his entire childhood “walking on eggshells”.
“I can’t wait to start a family of my own to give them the life I should have had.”
The eldest girl said she did not want her parents to go to prison, adding that they had displayed a pattern of “paternal incompetency” and struggled to cope.
The husband and wife have no previous convictions.
Senior counsel, Eanna Mulloy, representing the mother of the children, said the woman’s husband was “controlling” and “manipulative”. Mr Mulloy argued there was an element of ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ involved and his client had a “complex trauma history” and was bullied as a child.
Appealing for a suspended prison term, counsel said the woman has genuine remorse.
The father addressed the court and apologised to his children for his actions. He said the parenting style he was brought up with was “Spare the road, spoil the child”.
Judge Sinead McMullan said the children suffered “ongoing physical and emotional abuse”. She said neither parent intervened when the other perpetrated acts of cruelty during a “relentless” campaign of abuse.
The judge said the children should have felt safe and protected in their own home but there was “no safe place” for them.
The father of the children was jailed for six years and three months, with the last nine months suspended. The sentence was also backdated to reflect time spent in custody since August 27 last.
His wife received a sentence of three years and nine months, with the final nine months suspended.
- Published as part of the Courts Reporting Scheme.
