'Jealousy of a romantic nature' results in jail term for woman who stabbed another woman 14 times

Romantic jealousy resulted in a two-year jail term being imposed today on a 43-year-old Cork woman who stabbed another woman 14 times with a screwdriver.

Judge Colin Daly imposed a sentence of three years with the last one year suspended on Jennifer Cronin at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

“On October 11 2021 she entered the victim’s home and proceeded to stab the victim 14 times. The motivation appeared to be one of jealousy of a romantic nature.

“In relation to intentionality, she drove to the victim’s home armed with a weapon. It is at the upper end of the scale. An aggravating factor is that it was in the victim’s own home.

“She pleaded guilty on the second day of the trial which gives her little by way of mitigation. She comes from a dysfunctional family. She is currently couch surfing. She suffers from a personality disorder although this has not been confirmed by the probation service as she has not given them permission (to examine her records),” Judge Daly said.

He also remarked in the course of sentencing that she appeared to have expressed some remorse, had difficulties with impulse control and aggression and was not entirely cooperative with the investigation.

Detective Sergeant Kieran O’Sullivan gave evidence in the sentencing hearing following Jennifer Cronin’s plea of guilty to a charge of assault causing harm to another woman and producing a screwdriver during the attack.

The incident occurred on October 11 2021. Shortly before 10am that morning she drove her own car to the home of the injured party at Lagan Grove in Mayfield.

“She exited the vehicle. The injured party’s family were there. Ms Cronin produced a screwdriver and attempted to assault the injured party. She stabbed her 14 times with the screwdriver. Three of the stab wounds were to the face, three to the scalp and five of them were to the stomach.

“An emergency services doctor arrived at the scene and found she had very serious injuries and was taken to Cork University hospital.

“Prior to the assault, Jennifer Cronin stopped and spoke to a male who was known to both parties. During this conversation she said she had a screwdriver. Jennifer Cronin said to this male, ‘I’m going to stick that in her.’ 

“Jennifer Cronin was arrested two days later. She is 43 and has a total of 51 previous convictions. She has two Section 2 (simple) assault convictions. The injured party did not want to make a victim impact statement.

“Jennifer Cronin said to the probation officer that this was not a planned assault. I disagree with that. Her intention was to cause harm to this lady,” Det Sgt O’Sullivan testified at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

Jennifer Cronin, who is living at Brooklodge Grove, Glanmire, County Cork, was represented by barrister Jeff Hitchmough who said the defendant had not come to the attention of gardaí since this incident.

“She accepts full responsibility for her actions on the day. What brought it all about was that she went to confront her about her liaisons with her (Ms Cronin’s) partner. She did not set out to assault her but she saw red. It is out of character. She said she acted on impulse. Her view was that (the injured party) had liaisons with her partner. It is to a certain extent a crime of passion. She is very sorry for what she has done,” Mr Hitchmough said.