Threatening to kill wife - Kilkenny man gets suspended jail sentence

A married father-of-six who was convicted of assaulting his wife and making a threat to kill her and of two counts of theft was handed down a nine-month suspended sentence at Kilkenny District Court.

The man cannot be named in this report to protect the identity of his children.

The court previously heard evidence from the man’s wife at the time of the incidents she had been married to the defendant for 27 years and they had six children. The woman had a safety order in place until June 2022. Things were ‘fine for a few weeks’ after it expired then ‘things got much worse.’ The couple was separated but living in the same house and they were on speaking terms.

The first incident occurred on August 16, 2022. During the day her husband rang her ‘numerous times’ while she was at work. She also received a lot of text messages. He was upset over something he wanted to find out but that she could not tell him, the woman said.

She arrived home at about 7.30pm and her husband was asleep on the couch. That evening their then 13-year-old son went to bed at about 11.30pm. The defendant was questioning the woman and she had her phone, so started recording.

The man had a drink and approached her. She said she didn’t really know what he was talking about. The woman said she didn’t know the quantity of alcohol her husband drank but he would drink most evenings.

The man asked his wife where one of their older sons was and she could not tell him because the son had moved away and did not want her to share the location. The man then mentioned the 13-year-old son and said if anything happened to him he would kill her and ‘do time for her.’

The woman said her husband would not say what he was talking about but she took it to mean he would be happy to go to jail if he killed her. The man’s demeanour was ‘very calm’, the woman said. She felt shocked because he had never said anything like that to her before.

The second incident related to the theft of a folder containing documents on a date unknown between November 21 and 26, 2022.

At last Tuesday’s sitting of Kilkenny District Court a probation report was before the court. Solicitor Michael Lanigan also said that his client had attended Ardu and had last had a drink at a social function the previous Friday.

“It is really unusual that this type of event occurs and two years later they are still living together,” he said adding that ‘they speak about making a new life in another jurisdiction’.
“The French have a word for it, ‘amour fou’,” he added.

Judge Geraldine Carthy said that she was taking into account the family dynamics, his efforts in going to Ardu and that the last time he had consumed alcohol was with his wife in a social setting.

The judge imposed a nine-month sentence which she suspended for 18 months on condition that the defendant be of good behaviour, not re-offend, be of sober habits and comply with any court orders. The remaining three matters before the court were taken into consideration.