A Hungarian man has been jailed for four and a half years and ordered to leave Ireland upon his release from prison never to return after he stabbed his wife five times in the back on Christmas Day in 2021.
Laszlo Nemeth, who previously had an address in Cork, appeared before the circuit criminal court in the city on Wednesday in connection with the terrifying incident which occurred in Glen North, Banteer, Co Cork.
During the course of the attack the former soldier and qualified pilot chased his son around the garden with an axe and assaulted him. He also threatened to kill his wife, son and his son’s partner Klaudia Borz.
In a victim impact statement Klaudia said that she would never forget seeing Eva Nemeth, the mother of her partner, on the ground outside the house covered in blood.
“When we are watching a movie, we don’t even think about what it is like when someone is dying in your hands. But now, when I see a scene like that in a movie, I always remember Eva’s words when we lied on the ground while I pressed a jumper on her back to lower the bleeding.
And when she says that she won’t survive this, and that she is bleeding out. Those moments haunt me in my dreams. It left me with an everlasting trauma.”
Meanwhile, Judge James McCourt heard that Mr Nemeth was estranged from his wife when the offence occurred. They have since divorced.
Violence during marriage
The couple got married in 1990. Det Garda Padraig Reddington said that Laszlo Nemeth had been violent towards his wife on eight to nine occasions during their marriage.
Dt Garda Reddington said that Mr Nemeth was “obsessive” about his wife and levelled accusations about infidelity in her direction. Mrs Nemeth had left her husband after he threatened to run her over over in a car.
The former couple agreed to meet in person at 11.30am on Christmas Day at the home of their son to discuss the final part of their separation. Det Garda Reddington said that the conversation was “civil” initially. However, at about 4pm Lazlo Nemeth began to become argumentative.
A decision was made that Eva, her son and his partner would leave on the pretence of walking their dogs. Dt Garda Reddington said the dogs were being loaded in to a van when mayhem broke out.
“He (Lazlo) approached Eva and took out a fish knife and stabbed her four times in the back. She threw her arms out to defend herself and he stabbed her a fifth time."
When Erik went to defend his mother Lazlo swung the knife and cut the fingers of his son. He then picked up an axe and swung it at Erik. The incident of the raising of the axe and the pursuit of his son was captured on CCTV.
Laszlo threatened to kill all present at the scene. He then proceeded to self-harm. He fled the scene by foot and was arrested two hours later at a forestry complex.
Injuries
The couple called the emergency services, who attended at the scene. The court heard that Eva sustained a collapsed right lung and multiple stab wounds. She was released from hospital after five days.
Erik required stiches to his hands for cuts he sustained in the incident. Laslo also needed hospitalisation for injuries he had caused to himself.
Judge McCourt was told that alcohol had not been consumed by any of the parties on the day.
In her victim impact statement, Eva Nesmeth said that she is still “frightened” by the threats her former husband made to her.
“I have constant returning thought that he will keep his word and finish what he started once he is out of prison. I have returning nightmares that he is released from prison and he either tries to kill me or my son.”
Eva said that she has been unable to work since the savage attack on her person. She suffers from chronic back and neck pain and is unable to step on to the street with any peace of mind.
She added that Laszlo had “spread lies” to “discredit her.” She is “paranoid” at home at night or when she is alone.
Her son Erik also had a victim impact statement read into evidence. He said that he lost 7kg because of the stress of the incident.
“I often wake up at night or in the morning with a racing heart after such dreams that he is trying to slam me with an axe or cut me with a knife.”
Guilty plea
Defence barrister Ray Boland, SC, said that his client is without previous convictions in Ireland or Hungary. He stated that Nemeth had entered his guilty plea at the earliest possible opportunity and had been in custody since January 2021 arising out of his actions.
He said that Mr Nemeth was a ‘hardworking” man with had run a transport businesses. He stated that his client was remorseful and had apologised for his actions.
Judge McCourt said that threats to kill in the case “were real and must have been terrifying”.
He stated that he was prepared to suspend the final six months of a five-year prison sentence once Nemeth agreed to leave the jurisdiction for his native country within 72 hours of his release from prison.
Mr Nemeth was also ordered to have ‘no contact, direct or indirect” with the injured parties. He was warned to stay out Ireland on a permanent basis and “not to return for any reason.”
The sentence was backdated to January 6th, 2022 when Nemeth first entered custody.
Mr Nemeth had pleaded guilty to two counts of assault causing harm, two counts of producing weapons and one count of threatening to kill his wife, son and his son’s partner.
