Woman stabbed by partner lost ‘trust in world’

A woman who suffered a “vicious” knife attack from her former partner said she has to live with the “guilt” of bringing him into her life.

Every day she asks herself how could she “have been such a bad judge of character”.

Denis Leahy (50), of Queen Street, Dublin 7, was charged with attempting to murder Rose Kenny at School Street Flats, Dublin 8, on September 23rd, 2014.

On June 22nd at the Central Criminal Court, Leahy pleaded guilty to the charge.

Leahy had previously pleaded guilty to intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Ms Kenny at the same address on the same date.

Yesterday Ms Kenny (51) took the stand and read her victim impact statement.

The court heard that on the morning of September 23rd she was a “normal 49-year-old woman living a normal existence” before she was viciously attacked by Leahy, a man she had shared “many years” of her life with.

Ms Kenny was going to work at a creche in a resource centre. As she left her flat at 7.50am Leahy began a “vicious” knife attack on her.

Ms Kenny said: “I have to live with the guilt I feel of how I brought this man into my life.

“How could I have known that he was capable of doing such gruesome things to another human being? Every day I ask myself how could I have been such a bad judge of character.”

‘Horrendous injuries’

The court heard that her “horrendous injuries” included three stab wounds to her neck and three stab wounds to her chest.

Ms Kenny had 12 hours of surgery at St James’s Hospital and was in hospital for seven weeks.

“My back, abdomen, chest and neck are destroyed with stab wounds but these can be hidden. But what I can’t hide is my horrible gravelly voice,” she said.

The court heard that after the attack her sister came running out of her home to find her “bleeding profusely on the ground”. Ms Kenny never lost consciousness throughout the attack until she got to the hospital.

“I just feel so broken. I don’t trust the world in the same way that I always had. I’m always in a state of anxiety for both myself and my family. I fight these feelings every day but some days I just want to curl up and stay in bed.

“After trying his best to murder me and leaving me so damaged he still has shown no remorse for what he did,” she said.

The court had heard Leahy had claimed he had been told by someone that Ms Kenny had informed gardaí that drugs were in his house and decided to get revenge. He will be sentenced next Thursday.