A 41-year-old woman who pleaded guilty to two counts of cruelty and who stayed with her violent partner even after he grabbed one of her two young daughters by the throat and hit her head on kitchen tiles, has received a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared before Cork Circuit Criminal Court for sentencing today after she pleaded guilty to two counts of cruelty contrary to the Children's Act.
Judge Dermot Sheehan described her daughters' victim impact statements as powerful and "showing a deep sense of betrayal towards the accused".
He described the woman as a "drug addict who chose to indulge in her addiction rather than mind her children".
He noted they had grown up in a violent home where unknown men were regular visitors.
He recalled that the cruelty first came to light in 2023 when the older teen called the emergency services to say that her mother was intoxicated, armed with a samurai sword and chasing a man around the house.
Judge Sheehan was informed that gardaí found the girls malnourished and suffering from poor personal hygiene, and asked to be taken away from the house.
He noted they had missed large amounts of school.
Judge Sheehan noted that she is now sober and apologised for her behaviour towards her children, and that the Probation Report said she now accepts her responsibility.
The Judge said the headline sentence in the case is four years, but taking into account her plea, her remorse, and her undergoing rehabilitation, he reduced it to two and a half years on both charges to run concurrently.
Taking into account that she has no previous convictions, the Judge said he didnt believe a custodial sentence was merited.
He suspended the sentence on the basis that she agree to be bound to keep the peace and remain under the supervision of the probation services for 12 months.
'She chose drugs over me' - daughter told court
At a previous sitting, one of her two daughters said in her victim impact statement that she will always view her mother as a stranger who hurt her more than anyone after she subjected her and her younger sister to a childhood of neglect.
The court heard the mother engaged in years of drug taking and invited various men into the family home to abuse drugs with her.
"Mothers are supposed to love their children, unconditionally, protect them, nurture them and guide them. My mother did none of those things."
She said her mother "betrayed" her and she ever felt safe in her childhood home.
"She chose drugs over me - strange men over me and violence over me," she said.
The woman sobbed in the dock as the girl told Judge Dermot Sheehan how she lived in fear of one of her mother's partners and witnessed him punch his own mother almost unconscious in their kitchen.
She recalled how he almost killed her when she intervened to try and protect her younger sister from him.
"Suddenly his hands were around my throat, squeezing in such a violent manner. I fell back, my head smashing on her kitchen tiles, squeezing, cutting off air. I remember the pressure, the dizziness, the moment when I thought: 'This is it, this is how I'm going to die'."
The girl said she began self-harming at eight years of age and later attempted suicide.
She said no amount of time can remove the damage caused by her mother.
She told the court that the moment she got out of the house she got better.
"I started feeling like a person again instead of a shell of one. You are not my mammy. That word belongs to someone who puts their child before themselves.
"You were never that for me. You are just my mother, the woman who gave birth to me and nothing more.
"Because being a mother isn't about blood. It's about what you do, how you show up. And you never did."
Her younger sister had her victim impact statement read into the court record.
In it she said she learned early on that if her mother was not happy, she was not "allowed" to be happy.
"Honestly, I don't talk about it much, but I believe my life could have been so much better if alcohol and other substances weren't brought into our home.
"I think my mom could have been a better mom but no matter how much I begged, she had no intention of stopping.
"All I really want is for my mom to get help - the kind of real help she needs. I want her to rehabilitate and become the person I know she could've been."
Defence Counsel Elizabeth O'Connell SC said her client was now "sober and stable" and felt "devastating shame" for what she had put her girls through in her toxic relationships with men.
