A MAN who admitted breaking into a woman’s home, beating her in front of her young children and stabbing her boyfriend has been jailed for six years.
Stephen Power (34), with an address at The Path, Garryowen, Limerick, was sentenced by judge Colin Daly at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court after having broken into the woman’s home at Galbally, County Limerick, in the early hours of Christmas Eve, December 24, 2024.
The court heard Mr Power had prior convictions including for arson, possession of knives, possession of drugs for sale or supply, burglary, theft, and criminal damage.
Prosecuting barrister Lily Buckley, assisted on facts by Garda Denis O’Connor, said the woman, her two young children, and her boyfriend were getting ready for bed when Power and others appeared trying to kick in her door.
Armed with a knife, Power gained entry to the house and stabbed the woman’s boyfriend twice as the man tried to protect the woman and her two young children.
The injured man “pulled the knife out of his own back” and one of the children, aged 11, ran barefoot from the house to raise the alarm with neighbours, Ms Buckley told the court.
The boy suffered severe trauma after he witnessed the knife attack and told Gardaí he had seen his mother being dragged out of the house and assaulted.
“He expressed concern that his mother had been killed”, said Ms Buckley.
Power and others continued to attack the woman outside her house, the court heard.
Power also slashed tyres on the woman’s car outside her home on the same night and damaged a doorbell camera in an attempt to destroy video evidence of the attack.
Mr Buckley told the court that the woman’s partner “was losing blood and getting weaker, his clothes were blood soaked, and there was quite a bit of blood on walls at the scene”.
Previously in court, Power smiled when evidence of the violent attack was being described.
The court heard there was no video footage available from the doorbell camera, however Gardaí retrieved some footage from a mobile phone.
Gardaí recovered a knife and a broken blade at the scene, and arrested Power the morning after the attack.
He initially denied having anything to do with the attack, but was charged with assault causing harm to the woman and her boyfriend, criminal damage, and aggravated burglary.
Power eventually pleaded guilty to one count of assault causing harm to the woman’s boyfriend on a full facts basis, meaning he accepted all of the evidence presented by the prosecution in court.
His own barrister, senior counsel Mark Nicholas, described the attack as “disgraceful”, “disturbing”, “unacceptable”, and “deplorable”.
Mr Nicholas previously asked Judge Daly to be as lenient as he could when passing sentence. Mr Nicholas argued that Power was a “serious drug addict” and the attack was “in keeping with his chaotic and addictive lifestyle” at the time.
He argued that Power’s addictions were “not an excuse”, but may have explained his behaviour on the night in “recognising the horror he was part of”.
Judge Daly said it was “especially egregious” that the attack took place during Christmas in front of children in their home.
Power was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison, with the final nine months suspended.