A man who used a horse whip on his wife, stabbed her in the head with a set of keys, swung a phone charger at her head, and threatened to kill a woman who gave her refuge, failed in his appeal against the severity of a two year prison sentence in the Circuit Court this week (December 7 ).
In fact, Judge Anthony Kennedy lamented the case before him wasn’t indictable so that he could have handed down a heavier sentence for this litany of spousal abuse committed by Joe Joyce Jnr,(22 ), Clibborne Way, Moate, over the last number of years.
In the witness box, pleading for her husband, the tearful victim, Ellen, rescinded her statement of complaints to gardaí in which she alleged “He beats me 24/7”, and added: “I wouldn’t be keepin’ me mouth closed...an awful lot of it was me own fault”.
Joyce had been in jail since June 17, after being convicted of nine offences committed between October 2009 and April 2010.
Sergeant Cormac Moylan read out the litany of offences, which included Gardai being called to a “domestic incident” at Castleview, in Moate in November 2009.
“Ellen Joyce had a baby in her arms at home and gardai saw Mr Joyce swinging a phone charger at her head,” said Sergeant Moylan.
“When gardaí entered the house Ellen Joyce was bleeding after he stuck keys into her head.”
Ms Joyce refused to apply for a safety order, or enter a refuge, and asked gardaí to leave. The defendant then told gardaí: “The uniform won’t save you”, stripped off his shirt and “ran down the main street in Moate in the middle of November”.
The court then heard how Ellen, bleeding, sought refuge in Hawthorn House in Clonbrusk on January 8, 2010 when Joyce turned up with a length of scaffolding pole and threatened both his wife and staff member, a Mrs Mulvihill. Ellen left because “she didn’t want the house damaged”.
“At the gate he turned around and told Mrs Mulvihill she was a bad bitch and he was going to shoot her and her son the guard [Paddy, Garrycastle footballer],” said Sergeant Moylan.
“He then hit her with a whip while she was holding the baby and kicked her on the ground,” he added.
On another occasion when gardaí were called to Clibborne Way to attend another domestic dispute on April 7, Joyce told gardaí: “he could hit her whenever he wanted...and then hit her with his open hand”.
In his defence, Joyce claimed he was depressed because their child had a heart condition, but no medical evidence of his depression was handed into the court.
“I don’t think the Vikings even whipped their wives,” said State Solicitor, Peter D Jones.
“You were beating her, whipping her, sticking keys in her head...”
“I’m sorry,” said Joyce.
“...sorry you were caught,” retorted Mr Jones.
“You’re a mouse here today but you’re a thug on the street. Whipping your wife when you wouldn’t whip a horse. Your horse gets better treatment than your wife. You think this judge is going to be fooled by you saying you’re sorry?” continued Mr Jones.
Ellen Joyce then gave tearful evidence asking for her husband to be returned to her and that “he’ll never do it again”. She said that Mrs Mulvihill “was provokin’ Joe”, and that she had lied in her statements of complaint to the gardaí. “I don’t help. He’d leave for 10 minutes but when he came back I wouldn’t be keepin’ me mouth closed,” she sobbed.
Joyce’s legal aid barrister Paul Gunning asked the court to suspend the 18-month balance of his sentence, but Judge Kennedy declared: “It’s not half long enough. Hopefully his next appearance is on indictment so I can give him a proper sentence.”
“As for his pathetic partner and their pathological relationship...I dismiss the appeal and uphold the sentence.”
In the hall of the courthouse immediately after Joyce was led away, his distressed wife verbally abused one of the gardaí
