An Athlone man who carried out a “savage” golf club assault on his ex-partner has been jailed for five years and three months, reports Breaking News.
The severe beating caused the frightened woman to leave the country, yet she observed the sentencing of Mark Conway, aged 39, via video link before Judge Keenan Johnson.
The father of two, residing at Marine View, Athlone, Co Westmeath, admitted guilt to assault causing harm to Kirsty Fitzpatrick, then 27, on February 16th, 2024, at his home address, reports Breaking News.
Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court was told she endured repeated kicks and punches before Conway struck her with full-force blows using a golf club.
Judge Keenan Johnson referred to Conway as displaying “Jekyll and Hyde characteristics, passive when sober, and when he is drunk, he is a menace, violent and a thug,” reports Breaking News.
Dressed in a grey tracksuit, he remained seated without showing any emotion while his sentencing was concluded.
Ms Fitzpatrick expressed thanks to the judge at the conclusion of proceedings, reports Breaking News.
He handed down a six-year prison term, with the final nine months suspended for five years, along with post-release probation supervision and several conditions, reports Breaking News.
The sentence was backdated to last March, when Conway was first remanded in custody, reports Breaking News.
Earlier, the judge remarked that Conway’s late expression of remorse “rings rather hollow” and condemned him for daring to claim Ms Fitzpatrick was lying.
The deeply upset victim, described in court as “battered all over her body”, provided a distressing victim impact statement, reports Breaking News.
In her evidence, Garda Sheila Fitzgerald explained that she attended the scene following an alert and discovered the woman “visibly shaken” at Conway’s home. The woman disclosed that Conway had attacked her with a golf club and a wooden floorboard.
They had lived together intermittently at the house where the accused stayed with his father, reports Breaking News.
On the night of the assault, he had consumed a large amount of alcohol.
They retired to bed and were sharing tobacco, but he accused her of stealing some, told her to return to her ex, and claimed she had been texting him, reports Breaking News.
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The court heard he “grabbed her face on her jaw with one hand and squeezed it”, reports Breaking News.
His father intervened and begged him to stop, but Conway ignored him, punched her on the side of the face, verbally abused her, then seized her phone and hurled it across the room.
Moments later, he attempted to cuddle her, but she resisted before he wrapped his arm around her and dug his fingers into her waist, causing pain; when she asked him to stop, he grabbed her arm, yanked her by the hair to the floor, and she was “roaring for help”, reports Breaking News.
Conway then punched her in the face, kicked her in the ribs and head despite her pleas for him to stop.
He retrieved a golf club, hit her on the right shoulder, and continued swinging with “full force” while she raised her arms to defend herself. Ms Fitzpatrick pleaded with him to stop, saying she loved him, believed he would kill her, and that this was his intention, reports Breaking News.
He exited the bedroom, and she barricaded the door, but he forced entry using a metal bar.
Gardaà arrived, and Conway “burst” from a room and charged at them until they deployed incapacitant spray, reports Breaking News.
During his garda interview, he acknowledged heavy drinking and stated he had no memory of the night before. He also attempted to persuade gardaà that his ex-partner was dishonest and fabricated events, reports Breaking News.
He was on bail at the time in connection with a prior violent incident involving the same former partner.
Ms Fitzpatrick sustained serious bruising, along with flashbacks, trauma and insomnia. She told the court: “I thought I was going to die, he wrapped my hair around his hand, leaving no way of escaping”.
She endured intense pain and nerve damage to her left arm. She described the deep mental wounds that she expected would require years to recover from, reports Breaking News.
Following the attack, Conway issued threats that kept her in ongoing fear. Ms Fitzpatrick remembered one message stating: “Gardaà could not protect me even if I changed my name or colour of hair, he would still find me, or if I set foot in Athlone.”
Conway had a longstanding problem with alcohol abuse and was “in a state of alcoholic blackout when this happened”, reports Breaking News.
Conway later conveyed an apology through his barrister without speaking directly in court. However, his victim responded firmly, declaring, “I will never, ever, ever accept it”.
His record included 21 previous convictions for offences such as public order, criminal damage, burglary, theft and possession of a knife, reports Breaking News.
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