Man who subjected six children to 'terrible' cruelty and repeatedly locked one in chest freezer is jailed

Eimear Dodd

A man who subjected his six children to “terrible cruelty”, which included repeatedly locking one of them in a chest freezer, has been jailed for nine years and two months.

An investigating garda told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that this was one of the worst cases she had ever come across in her 10 years working in a child protection unit.

The court heard that there was often no food or not enough food for the children, that the house was filthy and cold, and that both the home and garden were full of rubbish bags.

Rodents, flies, and faeces were witnessed by gardaí and social workers on visits to the house.

The six children – two boys and four girls - were considered small and pale for their ages, dirty and had inadequate clothing.

The youngest girl, then only a few months old, was admitted to hospital covered in dried faeces several months before the children were taken into care in January 2020. They were then aged between 10 months and 8 years old.

The court heard there was alcohol and drug-taking by both parents in the home.

The children are now aged between six and 14 years old and have been placed in three different foster homes.

The 35-year-old Dublin man pleaded guilty to six counts of child cruelty on dates between 2016 and 2020.

The court heard that the man had been due to go on trial earlier this year, but entered guilty pleas after a defence proposal was accepted by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The man also faced three counts of sexually assaulting the oldest girl and two boys. The DPP entered a nolle prosequi on these counts during the sentencing hearing. He has 20 previous convictions, primarily for minor public order offences.

The man can't be named to protect the anonymity of the children. He was handed a global sentence of nine years and two months on Tuesday.

His then-partner and the children’s mother (35) was handed a sentence of two-and-a-half years in 2025 after pleading guilty to a count of child neglect.

The oldest boy, who was seven when he went into care, was singled out for particularly cruel treatment by the man, the court heard.

This included not being given food and being locked in his room, a downstairs bathroom, a closet and a functioning chest freezer.

The man attempted to suffocate the boy and often held his head underwater in the bath.

The oldest boy (now 13) read his victim impact statement over videolink to the court. Victim impact statements on behalf of the other siblings were read by their foster carers.

These statements outlined the physical, emotional and psychological effects on the children, who have struggles with trust, food and school. The children are happy in their foster homes but upset they don’t live together.

In his statement, the 13-year-old said he thinks the man “should be put in jail for over 30 years for what he put me and my siblings through” adding, “I don’t want him to do it to any other children”.

He said the man made him watch him and the woman have sex, that the man would kick him in his privates, laugh and pull down his boxers.

“You hated me for some reason. Told me I wasn’t part of your family. I don’t know why you were so cruel to me.”

The eldest girl (now 14) said: “No one helped us”.

“You are a selfish, cruel man…All I wanted was a caring, supportive dad. But no, I got a sh**ty one instead,” she said.

In a statement on behalf of the youngest girl (now six), her foster mother said she asks questions, including “why was this allowed to happen to me”.

She said the girl asks if she was loved as a baby and why her birth parents were so mean to them.

The foster mother of the second youngest girl noted: “What happened was not a single moment, but prolonged neglect at a critical stage in her life.”

Judge Elma Sheahan said the victim impact statements demonstrate the insight these “resilient children” have into their difficulties and who is to blame.

The judge noted the “deep upset” the children have experienced as they cannot be together.

“Their sibling unit was torn apart by virtue of the behaviour of adults in their life.”

She said these statements make for “sad reading”, adding that it is clear the children are happy and loved in the homes where they now live. She wished them and their new parents well.

The judge said the repeated nature of the offending over an extended period, the profound breach of parental trust, the children’s ages and dependency were among the aggravating features of the case.

She said the exposure of the children to utterly inappropriate sexual behaviour, drug taking, and the use of family funds to buy drugs instead of food and heating for the children were also aggravating.

The judge said the court was “struck by the repeated nature of the terrible cruelty perpetrated” on vulnerable children and that the man “betrayed each of them gratuitously and repeatedly”.

The garda accepted a suggestion by Keith Spencer, defending, that the man and his then-partner were taking drugs, and their relationship could be turbulent.

Spencer suggested to the garda that the man was excluded from the house when he was in the throes of addiction and was surprised by some of the photos showing the “true horrific conditions of the house”.

The garda replied: “As far as I’m aware, he was living there.”

Timothy O’Leary, defending, said his client takes full responsibility for his actions and is extremely sorry and recognises he should have been a better father.

The man has since undergone drug treatment.

O’Leary asked the court to consider his client’s limited previous convictions and the length of the sentence imposed on the mother.

A garda investigation started in the summer of 2019 following a Tusla referral. The agency had been involved with the family for some time before this as concerns about the children’s care emerged in 2016, later escalating in 2018 and 2019.

Others including doctors, the public health nurse and school staff also expressed similar concerns. Safety plans put in place during the summer of 2019 were not followed.

The house was in a filthy condition, and there was often no electricity or heating. There was no clean bedlinen, with the children sleeping on dirty mattresses. Photos of the house were handed to the court.

The court was told there was often food in the house, but it was uncooked or in cans that the children were not old enough to cook. The older children were also often left to care for the younger ones.

The three older children were interviewed by specialist gardaí after going into care in January 2020. They described the man hitting them and their siblings.

The oldest boy described being sent to bed for any reason and regularly not being given food as a punishment.

The man also routinely slapped and hit the boy on his back, legs and chest, with the boy telling gardaí he remembered being hit when he was as young as three and a half. The boy was not taken for treatment and said he often found it hard to play or run afterwards, feeling like his back was broken.

The children’s mother often witnessed these assaults, the court heard.

The boy told gardaí he often felt starving and would get less food than his siblings. The oldest girl and the second oldest boy often tried to bring him food.

In his statement, the now 13-year-old oldest boy said he was asking for the man to be put behind bars and “for someone to listen to me and take what happened to me seriously”.

He said his breathing is sometimes irregular, noting that the man would often hold his head under the water in a bath. “I learnt not to make bubbles as it was wasting air.”

In her statement, the oldest girl said the man had alcohol and drugs, and “we didn’t have food”. She said she had to take of everyone and wasn’t good at it as she was only seven years old. She said that she does not live with her sisters because of the man’s actions and rarely gets to see them. She said she finds it hard to see them due to bad memories and that they are watched by social workers. She said she only goes so they remember her.

In his statement, the second oldest boy said he is glad the woman is in prison and wants the same for the man.

In a statement on behalf of the second oldest girl, her foster mother said her “developmental trajectory was altered by the very people meant to protect her” and the consequences continue to shape her emotionally and physically.

Her foster mother noted the girl was hospitalised due to open wounds caused by a headlice infestation and sometimes routine haircare can cause distress.

She said the girl witnessed violence between her parents which she re-enacts with dolls. The girl has also described dreams of unknown men taking photos of her private parts.

In a statement on behalf of the youngest girl, her foster mother noted she was born with drugs in her system, was hospitalised many times in her early months and thrived there, but not at home.

“This harm was preventable. It did not need to have to happen. She now faces a long journey of healing - one she should never had had to take,” her foster mother said.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.