Custodial dad DAVID MCGUIRK has pleaded guilty to two charges of assault and two charges of child cruelty. His girlfriend/partner has also pleaded guilty to one charge of child cruelty. Dad got custody after an "uphappy breakup" with the children's mother. Mum is chastised for (but not charged with) "neglecting to intervene," which is ridiculous, because how can you intervene when you don't have custody and nobody listens to what you say anyway?
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0801/1224251858365_pf.html
Man admits cruelty to young son and daughter
KATHRYN HAYES
Sat, Aug 01, 2009
A YOUNG boy whose father broke his arm on a radiator told health workers he hoped his dad was put into custody “for a 100 years”, a court has heard.
The Limerick child was just five years of age when he and his then 10-year-old sister were taken into care after hospital staff raised concerns about unexplained injuries, Limerick Circuit Court heard yesterday.
Their father, David McGuirk (42), High Meadows, Gouldavoher, Limerick, pleaded guilty to two charges of assault causing harm to his son in April and November 2005. He also pleaded guilty to two charges of child cruelty in respect of his son and his daughter between April 1st and October 31st, 2005.
His partner at the time, Helen Kinsella (36), Ballyduane, Clarina, Co Limerick, pleaded guilty to one charge of child cruelty in respect of the boy in 2005.
Evidence was heard yesterday from Garda Breda O’Connell who was involved in the investigation.
The court heard that McGuirk was given custody of his children following an “unhappy break-up” with their mother and that the offences occurred in 2005 when he was living with Kinsella.
In November 2005 when his son was five, he was admitted to the Mid Western Regional Hospital with an injury to his ear, the court heard. Staff became suspicious after noticing other bruising on the boy’s body and an investigation was launched.
A teenage sister of the two young children made a statement to gardaí about a series of continued violence against her brother in the family home and said she witnessed their father breaking her brother’s arm off a radiator.
The boy developed a “cauliflower ear” deformity. His older sister said her father hit the boy every day and on one occasion struck him with full force into the eye with his fist. She also told gardaí that her father thumped her younger sister once or twice a week and said the boy was given regular cold showers and baths to try to hide bruises.
It was also alleged by the teenager that Kinsella had pushed the boy down a stairs and took a hot iron to his bare buttocks but the court heard there was no evidence to corroborate these claims, which Kinsella described as “ridiculous”.
Counsel for the State John O’Sullivan said the case against the mother of five was one of neglecting to intervene in the actions of McGuirk and “actively participating in covering up what happened”.
According to victim impact statements read out in court yesterday, the little boy “is detached and at times shows great sadness”.
The court heard that he is prone to angry outbursts when he remembers what his father did to him. When he was told his father was going to court, he said: “I hope he gets arrested for a 100 years.”
Healthcare workers said the girl suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and was described as a child who “has suffered great fear”. Both children were described as very traumatised “having endured much suffering at the hands of their father”.
Judge Carroll Moran described the offences as very serious and adjourned sentencing to October 6th. He ordered that the anonymity of the children be respected as set out in the Children’s Act but ordered that the names of the defendants be published. He accepted that the children could be identified “incidentally” by naming their father but said he was making the order for the names of the accused to be published “as a fundamental principle of the administration of justice”.
Judge Moran also noted that this was also the view of the HSE and the guardians of the children who are both the subject of permanent care orders.