A 63-year-old man has been remanded in custody after he admitted pouring boiling water over his wife and attacking her with a claw hammer as she slept at their Cork city home earlier this year.
On Wednesday at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, Noel Twomey from Carbery Grove, Knocknaheeny pleaded guilty to two counts of assault causing harm to his wife, Jackie, at their home on January 15th last.
Twomey pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Ms Twomey by pouring boiling water over her and to another charge of assault causing her harm by attacking her with a claw hammer.
Defence counsel Shay Roche SC applied for an adjournment to allow for the preparation of both a medical report and a psychiatric report on his client and Judge Helen Boyle granted the application.
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Prosecution barrister Emmet Boyle said in the light of Twomey’s pleas he would be seeking a victim impact statement from Ms Twomey. Judge Boyle adjourned the matter until February 12th for sentence.
Gardaí gave an outline of the facts of the case when objecting to bail for Twomey in Cork District Court earlier this year when one of the grounds of objection was the seriousness of the charge.
Det Garda Brian Murphy said Twomey, who had been married to his wife for almost 40 years, was still up and watched her return home on a CCTV camera at about 3.30am on the night in question.
Det Garda Murphy said Jackie Twomey later went to bed and fell asleep only for the accused to then fill a pot of water on the stove and arm himself with a claw hammer from a toolbox.
“When the water was boiling, Noel Twomey took the pot and the hammer and paced the flat for some time before entering the bedroom,” said Det Garda Murphy.
“He proceeded to pour the boiling water on his wife before striking her over the head with the hammer a number of times – he expressed surprise she was able to jump up and leave the property.
“He also left the property and on Bakers Road, he flagged down a patrol car. He was visibly soaked in blood, and he was in possession of a bloodstained hammer in a plastic bag.”
Det Garda Murphy said that gardaí proceeded to the house where scene-of-crime officers cordoned off the bedroom and began an examination after the property was declared a crime scene.
“This is very serious. She went to sleep in the safety of her own bed. Noel Twomey made the very conscious decision to boil a pot of water and retrieve a claw hammer from the toolbox.
“He has stated he paced the apartment 10 to 20 times considering would he carry out his actions. He entered his bedroom where his wife slept and attacked her in a cowardly fashion as she lay asleep.
“He showed no remorse and never inquired about his wife’s condition. He comes across as a very controlling individual. His actions were very disturbing and sinister.”
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