Ex-husband and his partner are convicted of assaulting ex-wife
Carlow courthouse Photo: Michael O'Rourke
AN ex-husband and his partner were last week convicted at Carlow District Court of assaulting his ex-wife after a row erupted between the three of them at his house.
Kevin Nolan (46) of Nolan Farming, Grangeford was found guilty by Judge Geraldine Carthy of assaulting his ex-wife Una Nolan at Springmount, Grangeford, causing her harm, on 30 November 2023, while his partner Margaret Hennessey, Ballymacelligot, Tralee, Co Kerry was also found guilty of assaulting her.
Judge Geradine Carthy had heard evidence about the events that happened in Mr Nolan’s house at a previous court sitting, when both Mr Nolan and Ms Hennessey had denied the charges against them, with Judge Carthy adjourning the case to last week to consider her verdict. She said she was satisfied to convict the pair because she found the medical evidence was in line with what Mrs Nolan had said in court.
She said that the case against Mr Nolan (46) and Ms Hennessey (50) was “very serious” and that the “threshold for custody had been reached”, unless a probation report convinced her otherwise.
At the previous court sitting, Judge Carthy heard that an issue arose on the morning of the incident and that Mrs Nolan had gone up to her ex-husband’s house where she met him and Ms Hennessey. Mrs Nolan said in her direct evidence that she was assaulted by Ms Hennessey over a mobile phone, while Mr Nolan had hit and kicked her before banging her head off the bonnet of a car.
Judge Carthy heard that when Mrs Nolan arrived at the garda station in Tullow, her jaw was swollen, there were red marks on her neck and there were lumps of hair in her hand.
The court was told that Mrs Nolan accepted an adult caution on a counter-charge of assaulting Ms Hennessey when she was trying to get her phone back and that she was advised to accept the caution because she was a social worker and didn’t want to have a criminal conviction.
Mr Nolan denied assaulting his ex-wife, telling the court that she had come to his house “like a woman possessed, a crazy woman” and admitted to pushing her out of the house. Ms Hennessey, in her direct evidence, admitted to grabbing a mobile phone from Mrs Nolan because she was recording the incident and that Mrs Nolan may have been injured as she was pushed through the door.
Solicitor Joe Farrell had argued that Mr Nolan was entitled to use reasonable force against his ex-wife to get her out of his premises and last week, when giving her verdict, Judge Carthy said that it was a key issue in the case. She said that a medical report on Mrs Nolan was consistent with her evidence of being assaulted because of the injuries to her face and neck.
Last week, after delivering her verdict, Judge Carthy ordered a probation report on each of the defendants and adjourned the matter until 10 September.
