Noel Twomey – Cork

A 64-year-old man who poured boiling water over his sleeping wife and struck her several times with a claw hammer at their home in Cork city has been jailed for eight years.

Cork Circuit Criminal Court Judge Dermot Sheehan told Noel Twomey of Carbery Grove, in Knocknaheeny in Cork city that what he did to his wife, Jackie, impacted her not just physically, but had also caused “significant psychological trauma”.

Cork Circuit Criminal Court previously heard that Twomey was arrested by gardaí near his home in the early hours of 15 January 2024 “soaked in blood and in possession of a blood stained hammer in a plastic bag”.

Later that year, he pleaded guilty to two counts of serious assault causing harm to his wife Jackie, and one count of producing a claw hammer, at their family home.

The 59-year-old mother of three said in her in her victim impact statement that what he did to her was “beyond cruel and evil” and changed her life forever.

“He poured the boiling water on me and hit me a number of times over the head with the hammer. He didn’t seem to care about the damage he was doing to me”, she said.

“I thought I was going to die”.

The court was told the attack left Ms Twomey with a dent in her head, a 3.5mm long scar, and second degree burns over 11% of her body and it was “down to happenstance that she didn’t suffer serious cranial injuries”.

Sentencing had been adjourned a number of times over the past two years in an effort by the defence to secure a psychiatric report on Twomey ahead of sentencing.

Judge Sheehan said Ms Twomey had no opportunity of defending herself in any way because she was woken out of her sleep. She was in hospital for six days, was badly injured and has significant psychological trauma.

He said a headline sentence of 12 years would be appropriate given the level of premeditation with the boiling kettle and the weapon.

He said an aggravating factor was that he attacked his wife in her own home where she should have felt safe.

But there were mitigating factors including the fact that Twomey made a full admission to gardaí and had pleaded guilty.

Judge Sheehan sentenced him to nine years in prison, with the final 12 months suspended on condition that he keeps the peace and be of good behaviour.

He is also not to have any direct or indirect contact with his wife for a period of 12 years.