Investigation as woman has stillbirth following alleged assault

Gardaí in Co Kerry are investigating an alleged assault on a pregnant woman who later gave birth to a stillborn baby girl.

The incident happened near the woman’s home on Saturday night. The woman, who was 32 weeks pregnant, was taken by ambulance to University Hospital Kerry in Tralee where her baby was stillborn some hours later.

It is understood hospital staff alerted gardaí and they spoke to the woman, who is in her late 20s, in the maternity unit of the hospital where she is still being treated following the loss of her baby.

Gardaí later arrested a man, in his mid 20s, for questioning about the alleged assault. He was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act and later released without charge.

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Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster is due to carry out a postmortem on the baby on Wednesday.

A Garda spokesman said the investigation was currently just in relation to the assault on the woman, who is understood to be deeply traumatised at the loss of her baby. The course of the investigation will be determined by the results of the postmortem.

A Garda source said investigators would also speak to the woman’s gynaecologist to see if there were any issues with her pregnancy prior to the alleged assault.

“It’s a complex case but the matter will be investigated fully and a full file including the results of the postmortem will be sent to the (Director of Public Prosecutions) who will decide what charges are to be brought,” the source said.