Sentencing of garda for assault on wife adjourned

By Niamh O’Donoghue and Fiona Ferguson

The sentencing of a garda who carried out a “protracted assault” on his then wife, who was also a member of the force, has been adjourned until the new year.

Trevor Bolger (48), who was previously attached to Ballymun Garda Station, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Margaret Loftus on October 25, 2012.

The court heard the maximum penalty for the assault, under Section 2 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act which is normally dealt with summarily in the district court , is six months imprisonment or a fine.

Judge Martina Baxter heard evidence in the case earlier this year and had adjourned sentencing to to allow a probation report be prepared.

Judge Baxter today further adjourned finalisation of sentencing to allow assessment for an intervention program mentioned in the probation report be completed.

She asked for an updated probation report for the next date January 16, 2026.

She noted the case had taken time coming through the system and thanked the injured party for her forbearance.

She said Ms Loftus’ victim impact statement had been impressive and insightful.

She noted they were both gardai and were aware of the process.

She said Ms Loftus was a strong lady who had been proactive in indicating she was not going to accept his behaviour.

At an earlier hearing in June Ms Loftus read a victim impact statement to the court in which she described the effects the “protracted assault” had on her.

She said Bolger violently assaulted her that night. “I lost everything,” she said.

She said she had a strong sense of truth and justice.

“After this assault it also impacted personal relationships I had within the guards – there was a stigma attached to me – for standing up for myself.”

She said it was “used against me while I tried to seek justice for myself” and was as “damaging as the assault itself”.

Ms Loftus also thanked the members of gardai who investigated the case.

“It has taken 13 years of my life to get to where we are today but truth and justice must prevail” she added.

“Trevor Bolger, you have done your level best to destroy me …every day you have broken me. By your own admissions here today .. you are an abuser and a perpetrator of domestic violence,” she said.

She said as a victim of domestic violence she would like to encourage others to come forward.

Detective Garda Rioghnach O’Sullivan told the court that in October 2012 the then couple had travelled to her home county in Balla, Co. Mayo for a family event.

Bolger was irate because Ms Loftus spoke to her family and did not stay by his side and he sat at the bar drinking for the night, the court was told.

When they returned home to her childhood bedroom in which they were staying, he hit her in the back and grabbed her by the hair while she begged him not to hurt her.

She described it as a “protracted assault” which was “terrifying” and she feared that if she had stayed with him she would have been killed so ended the marriage the next day.

Det Gda O’Sullivan told the court that the following afternoon “she had her father stand beside her while she told him [Bolger] that their marriage was over”.

Bolger was interviewed voluntarily in December 2018 and twice denied he had engaged in an assault on Ms Loftus.

Cathleen Noctor SC, defending, said her client had been treated for anxiety and depression and had entered a psychiatric hospital following the event.

He had brought €6,000 in compensation which he handed over to the court.

The court heard that Bolger remarried in 2021. A number of testimonials were before the court including one from a retired Inspector.

Counsel said Bolger had made a positive contribution to society over his 20-year career.

She also asked the judge to have regard to his own circumstances and that his mental health difficulties are ongoing.

Bolger was promoted to the rank of detective and was attached to Howth Garda Station in August 2018. 

He was suspended in December 2018 and was sent forward for trial on indictment in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Bolger has no previous convictions.

Ms Noctor asked the court to have regard to her client’s apology, his expression of remorse, and testimonials before the court including one from a retired Garda Inspector, Nick Mulligan, who Ms Noctor said “has known my client for the whole time he had a career in An Garda Siochana.”