Two sisters who beat another woman as she attempted to get into a taxi were both given four month prison sentences at a special sitting of the District Court this week (April 30 ), but had them both suspended for two years.
Rose Joyce (29 ) Ave Maria House, Battery Road, and Katherine, aka Tammy, Joyce (20 ), Oakwood, Bastion Street, Athlone were both in court to plead guilty to assault causing harm on Mardyke Street at 2.25am on November 1, 2008.
“The injured party was trying to get into a taxi when she was approached by the two defendants. They violently assaulted the injured party as the taxi was about to pull off,” said Inspector Nicholas Farrell.
“Her right arm and left hand were swollen and bruised and she had a laceration on her face. The injured party is 23 years old and she didn’t attend hospital,” he said.
When their previous convictions were read to the court, it transpired both sisters had been fined €250 each for their part in a public order dispute in December 2008, while Rose is presently appealing the severity of a three-month sentence handed down on October 7 for a separate public order offence.
“Those public order offences relate to this incident,” said Mr Padraig Quinn, on behalf of Tammy Joyce.
“I’m not taking great issue with what the inspector said. There had been a previous issue in the pub earlier in which my client was not involved.
“She tried to stop a verbal altercation between her sister and a third party. She claims she was bitten on the hand,” he said.
“There was an amount of alcohol taken on the night which might have clouded better judgements. She regrets being involved and accepts her part [in the incident].” He went on to explain how Tammy was unemployed but had ambitions to join the Army.
Mr Paul Connellan represented Rose.
“My client was in a licensed premises and was physically jostled on a number of occasions by the injured party,” he said.
“She let it go but began verbally insulting the injured party on the street later. Instead of making a complaint to the Garda station, things escalated on the street.”
He explained how his client, a mother of three and full-time carer for her father, had appeared in the court on December 2, 2008 on public order charges stemming from this night, and that this assault charge came subsequently.
“She knows she did wrong. This has hung over her for some time and I’d ask you not to impose a custodial sentence,” said Mr Connellan.
Judge David Anderson accepted the mitigation, and suspended the two sentences.
