Man who left partner semi-naked and unconscious with stab wounds is jailed

A judge on Wednesday dismissed “provocation” as a valid mitigating factor in the case of a man who beat, stabbed, and scalded his partner.

Judge Tom O’Donnell said gardaí walked into a “bloodbath” when they arrived at the woman’s flat where the attack took place. “There was blood everywhere,” he added.

Colin Ryan (30), and from St Ita’s Street, St Mary’s Park, Limerick, pleaded guilty to intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Simone Lee, (39), on November 27th, 2016. On Wednesday, Ryan was jailed for nine-and-a-half years, with the final two years suspended.

Ms Lee sustained a brain injury, a broken nose, broken bones, and scald injuries. She also suffered burns to her face, neck, trunk, and eyelids. She was also stabbed in the back. Due to the nature of her injuries, gardaí initially believed she was a victim of an acid attack.They later told the court they believe she was scalded with boiling water.

Ms Lee also lost some of her hair in the attack and now wears a wig.

Gardaí, responding to a report of a serious disturbance at Ms Lee’s flat at Thomondgate found shards of glass outside and a step ladder protruding from a window. Ryan, covered in blood, allowed gardaí into the flat, telling them: “She’s playing dead upstairs”.

The judge said: “Gardaí encountered what can only be described as the most horrific of scenes. The flat can only be described as a bloodbath. There was blood everywhere.

“Gardaí discovered Ms Lee semi-naked and unconscious on the floor with burn marks and stab wounds on her back.”

Ms Lee was taken by ambulance to St James’s Hospital, Dublin, where she was put in an induced medical coma for three weeks. Some of her neighbours told gardaí they heard loud noises coming from Ms Lee’s flat “for most of the day”. One said it “sounded like a building being demolished”. It was accepted both Ryan and Ms Lee appeared to be in a volatile relationship, which was fuelled by each other’s drug and alcohol addictions.

Bloodstains found on Ryan’s clothes, and blood found at the scene was matched to the victim. Ryan’s fingerprints were also discovered in bloodstains found inside the flat. Initially, following his arrest, Ryan denied any wrongdoing. The court heard there were no witnesses to the attack, and, Ryan’s guilty plea was “very welcome”.

Judge O’Donnell said the attack was “appalling, brutal, and savage”. Ryan had initially told gardaí he found Ms Lee covered in blood after he called to her flat. He claimed she threw a step ladder at him hitting him on his arm and which smashed through a window.

Ryan’s barrister Mark Nicholas described it as “a desperate case”. Ryan had two previous District Court convictions for non-violent offences.

“The assault was quite clearly a sustained, vicious, savage attack,” the judge said.

Ryan had led a “chaotic life” and showed remorse for the attack, the court heard. Defence submissions were presented to the judge which included a reference to “provocation”. The judge rejected this. He said: “No human – let alone a defenceless woman – should be subjected to such a vicious and savage and cowardly attack as was meted out to the victim.”

Ms Lee, who has since successfully addressed her addiction issues, was not visible in the body of the court for the sentencing hearing.

Writing in her victim impact statement in July, Simone Lee said of the night of the attack: “All I can remember is fear, and it haunts me daily.” Because of her injuries she had to learn to walk again, and she continues to suffer from headaches; a tingling sound in her ears; and she suffers from balance issues. “My life is a daily battle” she said.

She said she has “trust issues: and is “nervous” around men. “I can’t live on my own,” she said.