A mother of three said she thought she was going to die when her husband of 40 years attacked her at their home by pouring boiling water on her and repeatedly hitting her on the head with a claw hammer as she slept in bed.
Jackie Twomey said the attack by Noel Twomey (64) at their home at Carbery Grove, Knocknaheeny, in Cork on January 19th, 2024, left not just physical scars but also psychological scars that continued to haunt her.
“He had boiling water and a claw hammer with him and attacked me with both. It was beyond cruel and evil what he did to me. He poured the boiling water on me and hit me a number of times over the head with the hammer,” Ms Twomey said in her Victim Impact Statement at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.
“He didn’t seem to care about the damage he was doing to me. I thought I was going to die. I remember the pain and screaming I couldn’t believe what was happening.”
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The accused had earlier pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to his wife by pouring boiling water on her and to assault causing harm to her by hitting with the claw hammer, both offences contrary to Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act 1997.
Thanking the gardaí, the paramedics, her own GP and the staff at Cork University Hospital where she spent six days, Ms Twomey said she never thought she would find herself in a courtroom reading her statement.
“The nightmares return every night. The pain and memories are there all the time but worse at night. It’s hard to put in words how my life has changed and the anxiety and that have become part of my life,” she said.
Earlier Det Garda Mick Dolan said Noel Twomey attacked Ms Twomey after she returned home from being out socialising with family members.
Ms Twomey managed to escape the house. Her husband also left the house and was arrested by gardaí on the way to the scene with his shirt covered in blood and carrying a bloodstained hammer. He was arrested and made admissions that he had assaulted his wife.
Prosecution barrister, Emmet Boyle, read out a medical report from consultant plastic surgeon Dr Jason Kelly, in which he said that it was only “happenstance” that Ms Twomey did not die as a result of the hammer attack on her skull.
Mr Boyle said that it was the Director of Public Prosecutions’ (DPP) view that the offence was at the higher end of the scale for assault causing harm and merited a custodial sentence of between 10 and 15 years.
Defence Counsel Seamus Roche SC said the accused had written a letter of apology to his wife, and that he would prefer to have sentencing put back for a psychiatric report because the attack was extraordinary and clearly had a psychiatric overlay.
Judge Sheehan said it was important that he give serious consideration to the DPP’s view but it was also important that he have the benefit of a psychiatric report before finalising the matter. He adjourned the case until June 26th and remanded Mr Twomey in custody.
