Mayo judge jails man for four years for 'vicious' assault on his brother-in-law

A MAYO judge described as 'vicious' the assault by a man on his brother-in-law in which he slit his wrist with a Stanley knife while he slept at night.

Patrick McDonagh (31) with an address at Cherry Tree Lane, Hamel Hemsted in England was sentenced to four years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to his brother-in-law Christopher Lawrence (31) in a house in Riverdale Court, Castlebar on June 2, 2022.

The father of three arrived at the house where Mr Lawrence was staying in Castlebar at 4.30am and went to his upstairs bedroom while he was sleeping and cut open his left wrist to the bone using a Stanley Knife.

The two men had travelled to Mayo from the UK where they both live to attend a funeral and it was claimed that a few hours before the assault took place, Mr McDonagh had threatened to cut Mr Lawrence 'from toe to throat'.

Judge Eoin Garavan was informed at the sitting of Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court that there was a feud between the two parties after Mr McDonagh had married Mr Lawrence's sister against the wishes of her family. The court also heard that Mr Lawrence had been married to Mr McDonagh's sister but they are now separated and he has another partner.

Family feud

During the hearing, Mr Lawrence's mother, Winnie Lawrence, took the stand to speak in support of her son-in-law, Patrick McDonagh, and described him as being a good father and husband and added that he now regretted the act and was ashamed of what happened.

Following the assault, Mr Lawrence managed to flee the house and ring the emergency services and was brought to Mayo University Hospital after collapsing near the scene.

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The court heard that hospital staff became upset after seeing the wound and Mr Lawrence required two pints of blood. He was later brought to hospital in Galway where surgery was later carried out to the wound.

Detective Garda Leo Heaney explained that his left wrist was cut to the bone and as a result of nerve damage, Mr Lawrenece still has only 70 to 80 percent movement in his hand with little movement in his little finger.

Living in fear

Mr Lawrence, who lives in Luton in England, did not travel for the sentencing but a victim impact statement was read to the court by Det Heaney.

Lawrence stated that he thought he was going to die after the attack as he was losing blood and getting weaker as he spoke on the phone to the operator.

Judge Eoin Garavan

He added he is now constantly in fear that Mr McDonagh will 'finish me off' and suffers from paranoia and flashbacks and installed CCTV outside his home. He said his wife left him saying he was not the same person and will not let him see their children.

“I am a completely different person and do not trust anyone and I am constantly in fear. I fear he will kill me. He told me first what he was going to do and then he did it. He threatened me with a knife. He said 'toe to throat'.”

Mr Lawrence said he still cannot close his fingers fully and his hand is always freezing during the winter.

“This was the scariest thing to ever happen to me and I would not want anyone to go through this. I never did anything to this man and I just want to stay away from him,” Mr Lawrence said in the statement.

Extradition

The court was informed that Mr McDonagh was arrested two hours after the attack took place and made no comment answers when interviewed by gardaí. He was released on bail after he was charged with assault causing harm but failed to appear for a court appearance in July 2022 and a bench warrant was issued.

He was arrested in England on May 1, 2025 on foot of a European arrest warrant but fought the extradition process and was eventually extradited back to Ireland last month.

Detective Garda Heaney confirmed to Mr Patrick O'Sullivan, counsel for Mr McDonagh that the defendant has no previous convictions in Ireland and has five minor convictions in the UK.

Regret

Winnie Lawrence told Mr O'Sullivan that mediation had been attempted on three or four occasions to resolve the feud but claimed her son 'did not want it stopped'. She said she has a very good relationship with Mr McDonagh who she described as being very good to her since he married her daughter. She added that since this incident her son has had no contact with her.

When asked by Patrick Reynolds, counsel for the prosecution if her son knew she would be in court, she replied that he probably does but not through her.

When asked by Judge Garavan if she had seen her son's wound, Ms Lawrence said she saw a photograph and accepted it was a terrible thing to have happened and it should not have happened.

Mr O'Sullivan asked Judge Garavan to take into account the feud between the parties when sentencing and the attempts by his client to mediate with Mr Lawrence. He said his client is remorseful for what he did and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity after his return to Ireland in February.

Mr O'Sullivan said his client has given an undertaking to stay away from Mr Lawrence and asked Judge Garavan to take into account that Mr McDonagh has been in custody since May 2025 after his arrest in the UK and not to impose a further custodial sentence.

However Judge Garavan refused saying that this was a vicious assault and deserved a custodial sentence. He said that the threat to Mr Lawrence was made hours before the assault and it was carried out.

“This was a most serious and vicious assault which was pre-planned and prepared and done in a cowardly manner on an innocent person who sustained injuries of a life threatening nature,” he said.

He described the photo of the wound as being difficult to look at and observed that given the amount of blood loss Mr Lawrence was lucky to have survived the attack.

Judge Garavan described the attack as cowardly and vengeful and that Mr Lawrence woke up to a nightmare of the defendant looking over him and his arm dripping in blood.

He accepted the plea of guilty was valuable but regarded the assault as being at the higher end and imposed a sentence of four years.

Judge Garavan said the full sentence must be imposed and refused to suspend any part of it but did backdate the sentence to when Mr McDonagh entered custody in May 2025.