Ballyhaunis man viciously assaulted partner of 15 years as she slept

Construction worker threatened to ‘get rid’ of partner’s ‘pretty face’


A BALLYHAUNIS man who assaulted his partner in a drunken jealous rage was warned by a judge that he was ‘standing at the door of Mountjoy jail’.
John Waldron of Lisduff, Ballyhaunis, punched and slapped his former partner, Mary Feeney, as she slept in her bed when he arrived drunk from the pub in the early hours of September 19, 2015, and threatened to ‘get rid of that pretty face’.
The 53 year old had been in a relationship with the victim for 15 years before the assault. He mistakenly believed that she was having an affair with another person.
Detective Garda Kenneth Waldron told Castlebar Circuit Court that the assault took place at the victim’s home when the defendant returned home around 2am. Ms Feeney was sleeping when Mr Waldron started punching her a number of times and pulled her from her bed and slapped her across the face.
He pulled lumps of hair from her head and pulled fake fingernails from her fingers and threatened to kill her. Det Garda Waldron said John Waldron also said, “Keep screaming you c**t, no one can hear you” and “I’ll get rid of that pretty face, no c**t will phone you.”
The court was told that the couple had argued over a phone bill earlier, and that Mr Waldron had questioned phone calls she made to a phone number and why she rang the person. When asked if there was any evidence of an affair, Det Garda Waldron replied, ‘certainly not’.
When questioned by gardaí, he initially denied the assault and claimed the victim’s son had committed it to get him in trouble.
In a victim-impact statement, Ms Feeney said she was sore for a long time after the assault and now locks her bedroom door when going to bed. She said that because the assault occurred in her home, it made it worse. Despite the assault she said she forgave Mr Waldron and wanted him to get on with his life and did not want him to go to prison.
Mr Waldron, a construction worker by profession, told the court he accepted what he did was wrong and wished to apologise to his victim. However, a probation report stated that he had minimised what he had done and did not take the opportunity to avail of anger management courses.
Mr Eoin Garavan, BL for Mr Waldron, said his client was currently working and that a custodial sentence would be of no benefit to the victim or to society.
Judge Rory MacCabe described the assault as vicious and placed it at the higher end of the scale of offences. He said the charity of the victim in pleading for leniency reflected highly on her decency.
He said and felt the headline sentence should be three years’ imprisonment. However, he sentenced Mr Waldron to two years’ imprisonment, adding that how much of that he serves will depend on how he co-operates with the probation service.  He warned Mr Waldron that he was standing at the door of Mountjoy and that whether he goes in or not depends on his behaviour.
Finalisation of the sentence was adjourned to February 2, 2017.