A 50-year-old Ennis man was told last night by a Circuit Court judge that there is no question of him living in Ennis in the future.
Judge Carroll Moran made his comment after hearing how Senan McCarthy of Westfields, Ennis, jumped through the front bay window of his neighbours' home on Christmas night 2001 wielding a large kitchen knife.
The court was told that McCarthy had already injured the owner of the home, Mr Padraig Sheehan, a number of times with the knife before jumping through the window seeking his estranged girlfriend, Ms Lorraine Burke, who had sought refuge in the Sheehan home.
The court heard that as the struggle was continuing between Mr Sheehan and McCarthy in the downstairs front room, Mr Sheehan's wife, Trofi, was trying to escape out a bedroom window with their then three-year-old and nine-month-old daughters. Ms Burke had locked herself into an upstairs bedroom.
The court heard that McCarthy - a separated father of four - was eventually incapacitated by Mr Sheehan who struck him with a baseball bat twice on the head. As a result of the blows, McCarthy suffered a fractured skull. At Ennis Circuit Court yesterday, McCarthy pleaded guilty to the false imprisonment of Ms Burke on the December 25th, 2001, and threatening to kill her on the same night. He also pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Sheehan on the same night.
Judge Moran adjourned sentencing to April.