Suspended sentence for man who punched mother in head

By Natasha Reid

A Dublin man who punched his mother in the head repeatedly, pinned her against a wall and held his hands around her neck has been handed a suspended three-and-a-half year prison sentence.

Keith Walsh (35) of Carnlough Road in Cabra pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Maura Walsh at that address on August 22, 2024.

Having heard the facts of the case last June, Judge Martina Baxter adjourned the case for the preparation of a probation report.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Walsh has moved to a new address and is no longer living with his mother. Simon Matthews BL, defending, said his client commented that he has lost his mother as a result of this incident, and that this is having an effect on him.

Imposing sentence, Judge Baxter noted the probation report states that Walsh is developing insight into his offending and has begun to rehabilitate.

The judge said it was an unprovoked and protracted assault, during which Walsh used his mother like a “punch bag”.

“He cannot use his fists to resolve issues with the woman who gave birth to and nurtured him,” the judge said.

Judge Baxter noted Walsh’s early guilty plea, the steps taken by him to address his issues and that he has not come to other garda attention.

She imposed a three-and-a-half year sentence, which she suspended in full on strict conditions for five years.

The judge directed Walsh place himself under the supervision of the Probation Services for 18 months and engage in any offence-focused, anger management and addiction courses for which he is deemed suitable.

At a previous hearing, Garda Aaron McGrath told the court that he received a call to the house in the early hours of that morning and that Maura Walsh answered the door.

She told him that everything was fine and had no idea who had called the gardai. She said that her adult children were there but were asleep in bed.

The garda asked her in a lower tone if she was alright, and she replied again that she was fine.

He told her that he’d be in the area for the night and that, if she needed gardai, she should call 999.

He got another call to a disturbance at the house 20 minutes later, and this time, Ms Walsh answered the door with blood flowing down her neck from a cut on her face. She said she had been assaulted by her son, who had left the house by an upstairs window, having jumped onto a first-floor roof into the back garden.

After a short search, Walsh was apprehended in a neighbour’s garden.

His mother then made a statement that the defendant had come home around 11.30 the night before and had come into her bedroom demanding a cigarette.

She gave him one, and he went downstairs, where he left it on a plate.

She thought he wasn’t going to use it and took it back. However, he followed her upstairs and started punching her about the head.

It was at this stage that someone called the gardai for the first time, but when she answered the door, she was aware that her son was at the top of the stairs, listening.

Her statement said that when the gardaí left, he had been angry that they were there and started shouting at her. He had his hands around her neck, and she was telling him that she couldn’t breathe. He pinned her against the wall and started punching her again.

Ms Walsh fell down between the bed and a wall and hit her face off the wall, but he kept hitting her head and face, and she was afraid that her nose was broken. This is when he jumped out the window.

Ms Walsh later withdrew her statement and declined to make a victim impact statement.

However, photographs of her injuries taken on the night were shown to the court.

Gda McGrath agreed with the defence that the defendant was intoxicated at the time of arrest, but later apologised and was embarrassed.

He also accepted that the guilty plea was of assistance, given that the injured party had withdrawn her statement.

Counsel for the defence said that there was a background to the case. He said that his client had been out drinking, had come home and had “a meltdown, a breakdown”.

He said that his client had worked for Red Bull, travelling the world for ten years after school, before coming home and working as a warehouse operative and on building sites.

He had begun drinking and using drugs, and was “trying to keep it together”, but things got on top of him in the last few years, counsel explained. Walsh struggled with his mental health and addiction and attended the Cuan Mhuire rehabilitation centre. However, he had no certificate of completion to hand to the judge.