Courts

Woman jailed for her role in robbing and attacking widower (79)

Pensioner had previously given Christine Ward (36) sums of money when she called to his address

Christine Ward was sentenced at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Monday

Jessica Magee
Mon Jan 29 2024 - 18:14

A woman has been jailed for her role in two robberies, including one in which a widower (79) was attacked with a claw hammer and stabbed multiple times.

The man had opened his front door to a woman who sought shelter from the rain, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court previously heard.

The pensioner knew the woman as Christine Ward (36) as she had called to his address five or six times previously, asking for money. Each time he had given her sums of €5, €10 or €20.

Once Ward was in the hallway, the court heard, she was followed into the house by her former partner Derek Bewley who was wielding a claw hammer.

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Christine Ward (36) pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary at a house in Artane on November 2nd, 2018, with seven other counts taken into consideration.

Derek Bewley (48) pleaded guilty to possession of a hammer and stealing a wallet containing €600 during the same incident.

The former couple also pleaded guilty separately to robbing a wallet and an iPhone from a visually impaired man earlier on the same date, November 2nd, 2018, on Dublin’s North William Street.

Ward, with an address at De Paul Ireland, Little Britain Street, Dublin 7, was on Monday jailed for eight and a half years.

Imposing sentence on Ward on Monday, Judge Orla Crowe said these were “most serious” offences and handed her a total sentence of 10 years, with the final 18 months suspended.

The judge said it was an aggravating factor that this was offending against especially vulnerable members of society. She also noted the breach of trust in relation to the elderly man, who had previously given Ward money on a number of occasions.

Judge Crowe noted the mitigation and Ward’s remorse, adding that while she saw herself as a victim of her very difficult childhood, there were only two victims in court.

Her co-accused Bewley, with an address at North William Street Flats, Dublin 1, is due to be sentenced on Thursday, February 1st.

At a previous sentence date, Garda Brian Morrissey told prosecuting counsel that the 79-year-old widower had answered his doorbell at 8pm on the night to Ward, who asked if she could come in for a minute out of the rain.

Ward came into the man’s hallway and started crying, saying her cancer was back and she couldn’t take it anymore, adding: “How can I tell my kids I’m going to die?”

Her phone then lit up, and her co-accused, Bewley, came into the hallway with a claw hammer, shouting and demanding money.

A struggle ensued when the widower tried to grab the claw hammer and he was struck on the ear with it, shattering his hearing aid.

The man was also being stabbed repeatedly on his hands and was bleeding heavily as he made his way from his front door to his kitchen, leaving a trail of blood.

Ward and Bewley robbed the man’s wallet which contained €600 in cash. They also stole his phone and his Skoda Octavia car.

Because he had no car, the victim had to walk from Artane to Coolock village to summon help from his son.

He was brought to Beaumont Hospital and a medical report said he had been stabbed multiple times with a kitchen knife. He received 25 stitches in his hands and arms and sustained bruising to his ear.

In a victim impact statement read out on his behalf, the man said his economic losses totalled €4,775. This figure includes the loss of the cash in his wallet, his housekeys, his car keys and his phone worth €900.

The court heard his hallway and kitchen had to be redecorated due to damage caused by blood spattering at a cost of €3,000.

The man said he was a quiet, deeply private person who has lost his independence and his privacy since the night he was attacked in his own home.

He said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, and gets startled every time he hears the doorbell ring. He has become reliant on sleeping tablets and has lost all trust in people, the court heard.

The man said his life changed forever when someone that he had shown kindness and charity to came to his house armed and with an accomplice.

He said he genuinely thought he was going to die that night and that his son had to move in with him afterwards to ensure his safety.

Judge Crowe asked if Ward did have cancer at the time and her defence counsel, Cathal McGreal BL, replied: “There was no cancer but there certainly are children.”

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