Mother and teen son to face trial in connection with knife assault that left man needing 80 stitches

Gordon Deegan

A mother and her 16-year-old son are to go on trial together for offences connected to an incident where the son is alleged to have carried out a knife assault on another male, which required up to 80 stitches to a head-wound.

At Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Francis Comerford has directed that the trial of the two commence as a priority case in the first week of February at the next sessions of the court.

In this case, the teenager is charged with assault causing harm to Jeffrey Ryan (25) at Francis Street, Kilrush, contrary to Section 3 of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act on June 13th last.

The 16-year old is also charged with producing a large kitchen knife during the course of a dispute at the same location on the same date contrary to Section 11 of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act.

The teenager is currently on remand at Oberstown Detention Campus at Lusk in Co Dublin and was appearing via video-link from the detention facility at the circuit court.

After viewing photos of Mr Ryan’s injuries at a previous district court sitting, Judge Alec Gabbett said that the alleged injured party has suffered “very serious lacerations to his face” where he sustained a wound from the top of his head, running down his hairline on his forehead across to his ear.

He said: “You will see that the alleged injured party had upwards of 80 stitches with a view to putting back his forehead together again and also fixing his ear.”

A court has previously heard that the mother allegedly drove her son to the scene of the alleged knife assault on June 13th last.

In the case, the teenager’s 38-year old mother is charged with threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour in the course of a dispute and producing a kitchen carving knife capable of inflicting serious injury in a manner to unlawfully intimidate another person, contrary to section 11 Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act, 1990 at the same location on the same date.

The mother is also charged with assaulting Ava Moloney on June 13th at Francis Street, Kilrush contrary to Section 2 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997.

The woman's son is also charged with the assault of Ava Moloney at the same location on the same date.

Both Ms Moloney and Mr Ryan are originally from Croom in Co Limerick.

The mother cannot be named as that would lead to the identification of her co-accused and son who is a minor and cannot be identified.

The mother is on bail pending the trial and Judge Comerford directed that mother and son appear in court on February 3rd next for the trial and both accused are to be remanded on the same terms to that date.