A man has been jailed for two and a half years for burglary and assaulting a woman in Castlerea.
Roscommon Circuit Court heard the woman suffered a ‘terrifying ordeal’.
This incident happened in Castlerea on June 14, 2022.
John Ward, with an address at Castlehill, Arm, Castlerea, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm and burglary.
Ward, 37, and two other men broke into a home in Cashel Park in Castlerea, where Aidan Cooper lived with Joanne Watts.
Judge Kenneth Connolly said there was ‘bad blood’ between Ward and Cooper, with some sort of feud in the background to the case.
Ward and the two men entered the home, armed with weapons, including hatchets.
They wore Covid masks and hats to disguise their identity.
They damaged the house, with Ms Watts getting injured.
Judge Connolly said the three men left the house after a short time when they noticed Cooper wasn’t there.
Ms Watts later approached Ward at his home at Woodstream, Castlerea, carrying a kitchen knife.
Ward struck her in the face, knocking her to the ground and breaking one of her teeth.
Judge Connolly said she suffered a terrifying ordeal.
Ms Watts said she had post-traumatic stress disorder and needed a year off work.
Judge Connolly said Ward’s crime was clearly premeditated and noted his 52 previous convictions, but none in the past three and a half years.
He said Ward is involved in a boxing club and was abusing alcohol and drugs at the time of the offence.
He said Ward had no regard for Ms Watts, whom he described as an ‘entirely innocent party’.
He gave Ward a six-and-a-half year prison sentence for the burglary offence, but suspended the final four years, and gave him a 22-month sentence for the assault offence.
The sentences will run concurrently, so the effective jail term is two and a half years.
Ward’s imprisonment won’t start for 12 weeks, as Judge Connolly noted Ward’s wife will give birth by cesarean section tomorrow and they have four other children, aged six to 13.
Ward must sign on daily at Castlerea Garda Station until his prison term starts on August 31.
Ward came to court yesterday with €2,000 for Ms Watts, which his barrister, Ross Nestor, said was a token of his remorse and amounted to his life savings.
Judge Connolly said he was impressed with this.
