A 42-year-old man has been jailed for thee years at Limerick Circuit Court for assault and cruelty against his five-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter.
David McGuirk, of High Meadows Gouldavoher, Dooradoyle, Limerick, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault causing harm to his son on dates in April and November 2005.
He also pleaded guilty to two further charges of cruelty against his son and daughter on dates between April and October 2005.
His former partner, 36-year-old Helen Kinsella, of Ballyduane, Clarina, Co Limerick, pleaded guilty to one charge of cruelty against the young boy on a date unknown in 2005.
It was the State’s case that she neglected to intervene and actively participated in covering-up what happened.
The case arose when the children’s GP referred the young boy to hospital because he had a serious 'cauliflower' injury to his ear.
A subsequent medical investigation found that he had a number of unexplained injuries including bruising to his chest and ear, old scars, and old fractures to his forearm and hairline. The boy’s 10-year-old sister was also brought to hospital with unexplained bruising to her body and behind her ear.
During the garda investigation that followed, the children’s older sister said the injuries had been inflicted by their father David McGuirk, and that he had hit the young boy every day, on one occasion he hit him with full force in the eye.
When the accused man was questioned by gardai the explanations given by him were found to be lies. Both children are now in foster care.
Sentencing the two this afternoon Judge Carroll Moran said the case was one of ‘unacceptable abuse of young children placed in the care and trust of the two accused’. He said both children had been seriously traumatised psychologically by their experiences.
Imposing a three year sentence on McGuirk he said a marker had to be set down to reflect the very serious nature of these offences against vulnerable children.
In relation to Kinsella, who he said had the peripheral role in the case, he imposed a three year suspended sentence and placed her under the supervision of the Probation Services.
