The 50-yr-old woman who brutally stabbed her spouse in a Dublin flat “in response to an anticipated attack” while using disproportionate force in self-defence has been sentenced to five years in prison, reports RTE.
In a previous hearing before the Central Criminal Court, Ann Phelan, who had her own “demons with drugs” and led a “disruptive life,” told gardaà that she was in “total fear” and that her death was a “tragic accident” and that she had no intention of killing her ex-partner David Ennis.
The court was informed that Mr Ennis had been acting aggressively and had sustained head injuries following a fall from a balcony a few days before to his death, reports RTE.
During a sentencing hearing, Phelan’s attorney, Fiona Murphy SC, told the court that her client is “tortured by her actions” and had truly cared for Mr. Ennis.
According to the court, the two were “in a relationship of sorts” for two to three years during which time narcotics were “sadly” a factor, reports RTE.
Judge Paul Burns, who sentenced Phelan, stated that the defendant was defending himself from an impending attack from the dead.
During the sentencing hearing, a detective verified that the defendant believed Mr. Ennis was carrying a weapon at the time.
Although the knife had entered his side, Phelan also believed she had stabbed him in the arm.
The judge noted that one of the aggravating circumstances in the case was that she had armed herself with a knife and had used it against an unarmed man, reports RTE.
She was first accused of killing Mr. Ennis, 36, who lived at Claddagh Court in Ballyfermot, on the evening of November 8, 2022.
But when she was prosecuted in court last November, Phelan, of Aylward Green, Finglas in Dublin, entered a guilty plea to manslaughter.
The majority of her 26 prior convictions were for public order violations and non-appearance in court, reports RTE.
Although Phelan has no convictions for assault, he did have one for acting violently in a garda station in 2018.
Geraldine Ennis, the deceased’s mother, described her son as “a hard-working man in his day and always helped me out whenever he could” in a victim impact statement that the case’s detective read to the court last month.
According to her, her son’s life “tragically ended too soon” and she is “devastated and heartbroken beyond words” that she will never hold him again, reports RTE.
Ms. Ennis stated that she required “closure” and that he be allowed to rest in peace.
In a second statement, Lee Ennis, the deceased’s brother, claimed he was “a great brother” and that he “stresses about how he passed” and missed him terribly, reports RTE.
“I feel depressed at times and find it hard to accept,” he said, reports RTE.
According to the court, a little knife that resembled a potato peeler was discovered wrapped in some blankets next to Mr. Ennis’s body.
The DNA profile of the deceased was matched by the blood on the knife’s blade.
She informed the gardaà that Mr. Ennis had threatened to knife her and that “the next thing he was on the floor with blood coming out of him” during her voluntarily cautionary interrogation, reports RTE.
She informed the gardaà that a knife was in the bedroom and that Mr. Ennis had fallen to the ground.
She explained to the gardaà how she attempted to assist him by placing him in the recovery posture.
Prior to imposing the sentence, Mr. Justice Burns stated that Phelan and Mr. Ennis had dated and that, regrettably, the two had serious issues with chronic substance misuse, which had affected their lives, reports RTE.
According to the judge, Phelan and Mr. Ennis occasionally called into the residence of witness Martin Higgins, who resided at Claddagh Court, the location of the incident on the early hours of November 8, 2022.
He replied that Phelan will help Mr. Higgins with some cleaning and laundry, reports RTE.
He said that in the days before this incident, Mr. Ennis had sustained a head injury after falling from a balcony.
When Mr. Higgins answered his front door that evening, Mr. Ennis slapped him and threatened to rip his eye out, reports RTE.
The judge continued by saying that while Phelan was there that evening, the deceased continued to abuse Mr. Higgins.
He said that Mr. Ennis had also beaten Phelan in the bedroom.
Phelan had been attempting to raise the deceased’s head, Mr Higgins remarked when he subsequently entered the bedroom and saw Mr Ennis on the floor experiencing a seizure or fit, reports RTE.
The judge declared that although Mr. Ennis died from one of the three stab wounds he received, two of the wounds to his calf and thigh did not play a role in his demise.
He noted that the dead was “not in his right mind” at the time, that Phelan had willingly gone to the garda station, and that she had told police that Mr. Ennis had threatened to knife her, reports RTE.
According to the judge, Phelan also admitted to the gardaà that she had stabbed Mr. Ennis out of fear.
He said that during her six interviews with police, she had made it clear that she was defending herself, reports RTE.
“She stated she thought Mr Ennis had a knife and she had got a knife,” he added.
According to the judge, Phelan admitted to authorities that she had planned to stab Mr. Ennis in the left arm.
Justice Burns, who handed down the sentence today, stated that Phelan had committed the crime against a man with whom she had had a romantic involvement, reports RTE.
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