A MAN was in the throes of a chaotic drug addiction when he broke into a woman’s home, beat her in front of her children, and stabbed her boyfriend on Christmas Eve, a Limerick court heard.
Stephen Power (34), of The Path, Garryowen, Limerick, who had 57 prior convictions including for arson, possession of knives, possession of drugs for sale or supply, burglary, theft, and criminal damage, appeared for sentencing before Limerick Circuit Criminal Court.
The court heard that Mr Power broke into the woman’s home at Galbally, County Limerick, in the early hours of December 24, 2024.
Prosecuting barrister Lily Buckley said the woman, her two young children, and her boyfriend were getting ready for bed when Power and others tried to kick in her front door.
Armed with a knife, the court heard, Power gained entry to the home and stabbed the woman’s boyfriend twice after he fell on a stairs trying to protect the family.
The woman’s boyfriend “pulled the knife out of his own back”, Ms Buckley said.
The woman’s 11-year-old son was severely traumatised, the court heard. The boy ran barefoot to a neighbouring property and raised the alarm.
Ms Buckley said the boy told Gardaí he had seen his mother being dragged out of the house and assaulted, fearing she had been killed.
Power and others continued to attack the woman outside her house.
The woman told Gardaí afterwards that Power “beat the s**t out of me” and that he and others, not before the court, “behaved like animals”.
Power also slashed tyres on the woman’s car outside her home on the night, and damaged a doorbell camera at the house in an attempt to destroy video evidence.
Ms Buckley said the woman’s boyfriend “was loosing blood and getting weaker, his clothes were blood soaked, and there was quite a bit of blood on walls at the scene”.
Sitting in the dock of the court, Power smiled when evidence of the violent attack was described.
The court heard the attack may have been sparked by tensions between the woman and others in the Galbally area.
The woman’s boyfriend, who did not live at the house, appeared to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. He told Gardaí that Power and others seemed “shocked” to see him at the house.
The court heard there was no video footage available from the doorbell camera, however Gardaí retrieved some video footage which had been recorded on a mobile phone.
Gardaí recovered a knife and a broken blade at the scene, and arrested Power the morning after the attack.
Power initially denied having anything to do with the attack. He was charged with assault causing harm to the woman, assault causing harm to the woman’s boyfriend, criminal damage, and aggravated burglary.
He later pleaded guilty to one count of assault causing harm to the woman’s boyfriend on a full facts basis.
The injured parties chose not to write victim impact statements, said Ms Buckley.
Power’s barrister, senior counsel Mark Nicholas, said the attack was “disgraceful”, “disturbing”, “unacceptable”, and “deplorable”.
He asked the judge to be as lenient as he could when passing sentence, explaining that Power was a “serious drug addict” and that the attack was “in keeping with his chaotic and addictive lifestyle”.
Mr Nicholas argued Power’s lifestyle at the time was “not an excuse”, but that it perhaps explained his behaviour on the night “recognising the horror he was part of”.
Judge Colin Daly said he would pass sentence in March.