Walking Free | 

Mother who slapped, boxed and threatened five children walks from court after jail sentence quashed

The woman (38), who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of her children, was jailed at Trim Circuit Criminal Court just last month on five counts of cruelty to her children who were aged between 11 and four at the time.

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A mother who slapped, boxed and called her five children derogatory names walked from the Court of Appeal after she successfully argued that the trial judge did not adequately address her rehabilitation efforts when jailing her for one year.

The woman (38), who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of her children, was jailed at Trim Circuit Criminal Court just last month on five counts of cruelty to her children who were aged between 11 and four at the time.

The woman pleaded guilty and was jailed for two years with the final 12 months suspended on all five counts with the concurrent sentences to run from March 8.

The woman had entered five guilty pleas before Judge John Martin for offences under Section 246 of the Children Act 2001.

The five children had been subject to physical, verbal and emotional abuse by the woman between September 2019 and December 2020.

The woman appealed the custodial element of the sentence on grounds of severity.

At the Court of Appeal on Thursday, Kathleen Leader SC, for the woman, submitted that her client’s rehabilitation efforts had not been fully acknowledged by the sentencing judge, who had identified a three-year pre-mitigation headline sentence.

The sentencing judge had ruled that the threshold for a custodial sentence had been crossed but reduced the woman’s sentence by one year in acknowledgement of her guilty plea and other mitigating factors, said counsel.

The judge then suspended the final year of the sentence in the interests of rehabilitation, said Ms Leader.

Counsel submitted that the trial judge “fell into an error in principle” in relation to the custodial penalty imposed.

Ms Leader said that her client had entered a guilty plea on all counts, had endured a difficult upbringing and was an alcoholic.Ms Leader said the woman, who is now drink and drug free, has completed educational courses and meets her children, who are in care, bi-weekly. She has also completed a 12-week alcohol treatment programme in the Cuan Mhuire addiction facility.

Mr Hanahoe said the principles of sentencing were “punishment, deterrence and rehabilitation” and that the “interests of society are present in all three”.

“The principle is that a trial judge must be mindful of the personal circumstance of the offender and of the gravity of the offence. One can never be blind to the surrounding circumstances but one must endeavour to maintain focus on the sentencing process. That is precisely what the trial judge did in this case,” said counsel.

“She is a caring mother and was very, very unfortunate she did not have those skills when she was with the children. It is important that the child-and-mother bond is maintained. One is hopeful that going forward she can maintain that bond,” said Ms Justice Burns.

Ms Justice Burns said that in light of the evidence before the court regarding rehabilitation, the trial judge had made an error in principle and that the Court of Appeal would quash the original sentence.

In re-sentencing the woman, Ms Justice Burns said the court would sentence the woman to a fully-suspended two-year sentence to start from today and take into consideration the amount of time already served in custody by the appellant.