Mother on trial accused of cruelty and neglect in Galway

A 39-year-old mother has gone on trial charged with cruelty and neglect of eight of her children over a six-year period.

The woman, who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of the children, who are aged between 5 and 18, pleaded not guilty before Galway Circuit Criminal Court yesterday to 44 charges of child cruelty on dates between September 1, 2006, and May 12, 2011, contrary to section 246 (1) and (2) of the Children Act 2001.

Shane Costello, prosecuting, said the woman’s former partner had decided not to contest the trial and he advised the jury they need not be concerned about him for the rest of the trial.

Mr Costello said it would be the prosecution case that after the children were taken into care in May 2011, and placed with foster parents, they began to tell of how their mother physically abused them over the preceding years since 2006.

They recounted stories of how she used to assault them with wooden spoons, a leather belt, and a bamboo back-scratcher, and hit their heads off the furniture. She would also pour washing-up liquid down their throats if they said a bad word, the jury was told.

Mr Costello said that during Garda interview, the mother acknowledged she used physical force on the five older children, but she said it was no more than what was done to herself and she was just disciplining her children.

The eldest child gave evidence by videolink yesterday. “She was not a proper mother. She abandoned her children,” the girl said.

She recalled the mother left the children to go drinking around the time of her own 14th birthday. She said the mother returned home the next day and slapped her across the face while saying, “That is your birthday present”.

The trial continues.