Man beat mother of his child with shovel

A Limerick man on trial for raping, torturing and imprisoning the mother of his child has been acquitted of most charges but convicted of assault and false imprisonment.

The jury spent six and a half hours deliberating after an 11-day trial at the Central Criminal Court. It found him guilty of assaulting the woman outside her home and of dragging her into a waiting car. He was also convicted of beating her with a shovel until it broke.

The jury returned not guilty verdicts on the charge of keeping her in a house for a week and of raping her several times, including with a bottle. The jury could not decide on two counts of rape and the man may face a retrial on these allegations.