A Wicklow pensioner has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for a violent assault on his then 97-year-old wife at their family home last year with an object believed to be his walking stick.
A sitting of Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court heard that the accused, Tom Harte, had a short time earlier pushed his victim down a six-foot drop into a ditch while she was cutting briars in their garden.
The woman told gardaí that it had taken her over an hour to extricate herself from the overgrown area without any assistance from her husband, after which she was hit on the head several times by the accused with what she thought was his walking stick.
The court heard, in what Judge Terence O’Sullivan described as “a bizarre case”, that the couple had previously enjoyed a good relationship with no history whatsoever of domestic violence, while the accused had no previous convictions.
Harte (79), a retired recycling plant employee, pleaded guilty to a charge of assault causing harm to his wife at their home near Ashford, Co Wicklow, on May 6th, 2023.
The court also heard claims that the accused faked having a seizure when gardaí and paramedics called to the house a short time later after his wife had sought help from a neighbour.
Detective Garda Frank Gunter said the victim had told gardaí that in hindsight she thought her husband’s behaviour on the day was a bit odd.
He explained that Harte normally spent his days in his bedroom on a computer or watching TV, while she worked in the kitchen.
Day of assault
On the date of the incident, Det Garda Gunter said the accused had produced a pair of clippers and suggested that the couple should cut some hedges in their garden after they had eaten dinner at around 5pm.
The court heard the victim said she felt a hand pushing her down while she was cutting briars as her husband was holding them.
Det Garda Gunter said the woman fell into an area overgrown with briars where there was a six-foot drop near their patio.
He said it took her about an hour to get out from the vegetation.
Asked by gardaí if her husband had offered her help, she replied: “He never looked at me. He never said a word.”
She said he pushed her in the chest as she tried to get into the house before hitting her “pretty hard” with something that made her bleed.
When they went back into the house, he locked the door to prevent her from leaving, but she eventually managed to get help from a neighbour by using a key she had hidden in her boot after he had fallen asleep.
Det Garda Gunter said the woman’s face and clothing were covered in blood, and she sustained heavy bleeding from a wound to the back of her head.
The witness told counsel for the DPP, James Kelly BL, that Harte pretended to be having a fit on his bedroom floor when gardaí called to his house after being alerted to the incident.
However, Det Garda Gunter said a paramedic who assessed him found no evidence of any “seizure activity.”
He said Harte had also initially claimed that it was his wife who got out the garden shears as he was inside the house watching TV and effectively denied being outside in the garden.
Asked if he had helped her with the gardening, he replied: “No. That’s her department.”
Questioned how his wife had sustained her injuries, Harte remarked: “How the heck would I know?”
Garda interviews
During a second interview with gardaí he denied assaulting his wife but stated he suffered from “complete blackouts” at times which he thought might be linked to medication for epilepsy.
He also claimed that if he had “done the deed,” he would not still be wearing the same clothes by the time gardaí arrived at his house.
The court heard that the couple, who have no children, had married in 1968 when the accused was 24 and his victim was 42.
The court heard that the accused is currently living in a retirement home in Bray, although he could not explain the circumstances of how he got to reside there.
Judge O’Sullivan said the actions of the accused were “as vicious as possible for him to do.”
The judge said aggravating factors in the case were the victim’s age and that the assault had been carried out in the family home.
Others were that the accused had pushed his wife into a hole full of briars and left her to fend for herself.
He said Harte’s keeping his wife in the house was “virtually false imprisonment.”
Although there was no apparent motive, the judge said he had meant his wife serious harm.
He observed that the victim was quite a vulnerable person but also “one tough lady” who had escaped from the situation through determination.
Judge O’Sullivan said he was also satisfied that Harte had faked a seizure to gardaí.
However, he accepted that the assault by the accused was “out of character” but did not accept any suggestion that he had some type of blackout caused by medication.
Sentencing Harte to 12 months in prison, the judge suspended the final two months on condition that he makes no contact, approach or communication with his wife without her consent for a period of 10 years on his release.
Harte was granted bail until next Tuesday to place his affairs in order before starting his prison sentence.
