Friends’ anger at jailing of mother

CLOSE friends of the family of a Roscommon mother jailed for abusing her six children have expressed anger that she has been sent to prison.

The 40-year-old woman, who pleaded guilty to neglecting her children, two counts of incest and two charges of sexual abuse, was last week given a seven-year jail sentence.

She is the first woman in the history of the state to be convicted of incest, but a close family friend said the woman herself was a victim and needed serious rehabilitation.