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A 63-YEAR-OLD man who apologised “sincerely and unconditionally” to his former partner for repeatedly stabbing her at their home after she said she planned to leave, has been jailed for nine years at the Central Criminal Court.
Patrick O’Rourke of Cooline Drive, Ballyvoloon, Cobh, Co Cork pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Donna Foster at Cooline Drive on 11 August 2015.
He also pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to a minor at the same address on the same date.
Today at the Central Criminal Court, Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy imposed a nine-year sentence on O’Rourke and backdated it to when he went into custody. He also sentenced O’Rourke to three-and-a-half years for the charge of assault causing harm on the minor, to run concurrently.
Before handing down sentence today Mr Justice McCarthy said it was clear that this was “an extremely serious attack” by O’Rourke on his former partner.
“They were still living together and had been together for 15 years,” he said.
The judge said there was no evidence of violence during their relationship but arguments arose as their relationship came to an end.
“Ms Foster was entitled to bring that relationship to an end and any possible adverse reaction by her partner must be regarded as beyond comprehension,” he said.
Mr Justice McCarthy said Foster suffered a number of serious wounds when the accused stabbed her with a boning knife and she was “obviously extremely fearful and distressed”.
The judge referred to Dr Emmet Andrew’s medical report where he outlined that Ms Foster had received “two particularly serious lacerations” and it was miraculous that she was not injured more severely.
“The evidence is that Ms Foster has found it very difficult to return to work and she was self-employed. Undoubtedly apart from the financial difficulties which this has caused it has no doubt had an impact on her sense of well being,” said the judge.
The judge also referred to the minor who was in the house at the time and witnessed “the horrific event” which caused “grave distress” on their part.
Referring to Donna Foster’s victim impact statement, Mr Justice McCarthy said the ordeal has been emotionally draining and psychologically traumatic on her.
She truly and honestly believed she was going to die. She states she is grateful for having survived and now has a different perspective on life.
The court heard that it was accepted in evidence that the accused was described by gardaí as “very cooperative” and he had difficulty coming to terms with what he had done but claimed responsibility for the attack.
The judge said that while the evidence against O’Rourke is “very strong”, he has been described as contributing positively to prison and is a well-behaved prisoner.
“On the evidence he seems to be a person who was a valuable member of the community,” he said.
Mr Justice McCarthy said it was still a mitigating factor that O’Rourke pleaded guilty at the very end of the legal process.
The appropriate starting point for this crime was “in or around 12 years” but sentencing was a subjective process, the court heard.
“He is nearing 65 years of age which is a significant sentencing factor,” he said.
The judge said he had taken into account O’Rourke’s previous good character, his age as well as behaving well in prison.
“The principal mitigating factors are the guilty plea, his cooperation and his remorse. The remorse is in good faith and he read out an apology from the witness box,” he said.
Speaking outside the Central Criminal Court today, Ms Foster said she was pleased with the sentence and was happy it was over with. She also agreed she got justice.
“I’m just happy it is all over and now myself and the girls can just draw a line under it and move on with our lives. I’m feeling OK. I had a make-up artistry business and that’s gone as I now can’t do the work I was doing with the injuries I have.”
“Horrific attack”
As a result of the “horrific” attack, Donna Foster’s airways were exposed in her neck and she had injuries to her upper abdomen through which her small intestine was visible.
She told gardaí that O’Rourke “never stopped stabbing her” and she felt that she was going to die.
Giving her victim impact statement, Donna Foster said she was left with physical, emotional and psychological scars by the “continuous, vicious and frenzied attack” by her former partner after she told him she planned to leave.
Delivering her statement, Foster said she needed time to heal from the “atrocity” inflicted on her by O’Rourke.
She added:
I sustained serious stab wounds from a continuous, vicious and frenzied attack which left me fighting for my life, as I truly and honestly believe I was about to die.
She said that if it were not for the intervention of the minor who was also injured in the assault, she would not be here today.
“For me, I now have a different perspective on life. I realise that life is precious and fragile,” she said.
She said she finds it hard to believe that a man she trusted “would subject me to the most horrific attack in an attempt to kill me.”
Taking the stand last month O’Rourke wished his former partner “health, happiness and success in her life” and said that their years together were the “happiest” of his life.
Detective Garda Bill Dillane of Cobh Garda Station previously told the court that the relationship between O’Rourke and Foster had broken down prior to the attack but there had been no previous violence.
Speaking to Brendan Grehan SC, representing O’Rourke, Detective Garda Dillane said Donna Foster and O’Rourke had been together about 15 years. Two weeks before the attack Foster said she no longer wanted to be with him and planned to leave.
Detective Garda Dillane agreed that O’Rourke had given a statement to gardaí in which he described confronting Foster about her plans to leave on the morning of the attack before fetching the knife he used to stab her repeatedly.
There is rapid testing on arrival in many European countries, I wonder why it’s not available here? There must be a political reason why the government isn’t even talking about its adoption. Any ideas?
@Giovanni Giusti: lack of willingness to spend the money. Lack of sufficient tests levels as it is. Lack of imagination when it comes to other testing methods.
@Aidan O’ Neill: Our public health experts don’t like antigen testing according to the Taoiseach
It will take time? Why is that? Why does everything have to take an eternity and why should we be dependent on the U.K. ‘s acceptance ? I couldn’t care less what the U.K. do or not.
@Isabel Oliveira: you should Isabel. They generate massive income into this country through trade, tourism and diaspora travel. You don’t have to like but you need to understand the economics.
@Gary Sheahan: the uk will shortly be outside the EU, we will not. We need to adopt this system regardless of their stance. Our hospitality sector depends significantly on US visitors as well. They won’t be party to any EU system, so why should the UK be treated any different. Ryan needs to get the finger out and align us to EU system ASAP.
@Hugh Corcoran: The UK left the EU in January.
@Hugh Corcoran: our open border with the UK could force countries to treat us as one block so we would be on the red list everywhere!
@Isabel Oliveira: could it be that if the UK remain outside the system yet we still want to facilitate travel there, the Irish rating would not be allowable under EU system as UK travel should affect our rating due to UK potential rating?
It changes so often I wouldn’t be booking anything
Get it done NOW – time is not on our side – ACTION
They can still implement the first half (i.e. using the criteria for red and amber countries) from next week onwards while waiting to get testing in place.
@Dr Pablo Rojas Coppari: they won’t do that for one simple reason. The UK would be admitted. Other politics in place that are bordering on xenophobic
The bicycle man won’t accept it, he just doesn’t want people flying or traveling by car.
You know what would rid us of this virus? If every single one of us took some personal responsibility and just limited their contacts to 3 or 4 people outside of their own household for 4 weeks. It would be almost gone or at least down to extremely low levels of infection. Business and livelihoods would be saved, but oh no, people are far to fhckin selfish for that to happen.
I like the idea of rapid testing but of course what false positives would come through…which could block business or personal travel plans and no refunds would be available. I am glad I am not the one having to make these decisions!
@Seeking Truth: fast testing means a lot fewer cycles, so false positives are less likely. It’s irrelevant for us anyway as this government seems determined to keep us locked up and locked in
Airlines need to put in place a refund package for those who might test positive a few hours before their flights. If the don’t government must force them to by law.
@M Bowe: isn’t that what travel insurance is for?
@Kieran Frost: not covered under current policies
What’s the point in having orange?
@Bramer: it gives you an indication that countries may turn red. Which has implications for medium-term travel planning.
My job still wants me to take two weeks off to isolate if I go abroad. So none of these means anything.
If we are going to have another lockdown it should be done across europe at the same time. Then travel within Europe should be allowed. It could break the circuit on the continent also and maybe save the aviation industry
have your say