This article is from page 6 of the 2006-05-02 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
A MAN who assaulted his girlfriend with the flex of a hairdryer has been jailed for five months. Oliver Boylan (38), a homeless man, who is originally from Dublin, pleaded guilty to assaulting Jennifer McMahon, on April 20, 2004.
Sergeant Frank Naughton told Ennis Circuit Court that Ms McMahon had been locked into her flat on O’Connell Street, Ennis. She told gardai she had been assaulted by her partner.
She said she had been struck in the face a couple of times. He cut the flex of a hairdryer and used that to assault her, said the garda.
He took her mobile phone and keys and left. She couldn’t get out, but eventually managed to alert a passer-by, who contacted gardai.
Sgt Naughton said the accused had been in a relationship with Ms McMahon for five years, prior to this incident. Ms McMahon told the court that for two years she was afraid of going into town, for fear of bumping into Boylan.
Defending barrister Michael Fitzgibbon said his client — who was jailed for two years in March for threatening staff at Ennis General Hospital with an imitation gun — has settled well in jail.
“Bishop Walsh has been to see him on a number of occasions and has offered him work when he serves his sentence, in the line of landscaping,” said the barrister.
Judge Con Murphy accepted that Boylan pleaded guilty and that he was endeavouring to put his life together. He imposed a sentence of five months.