Woman’s bag stolen days after abusive ex jailed

A young mother had her handbag stolen just days after her former boyfriend was jailed for pouring a kettle of boiling water, mixed with sugar, over her.

Tara Byrd was walking to her car after visiting a petrol station on the northside of Cork City on Thursday night when two suspects, aged around 17 or 18, snatched her handbag which contained her children’s allowance, bank cards, and around €200 she had saved to buy a highchair for her infant son. The pair made off on foot.

Gardaí confirmed she informed them about the incident but said a formal complaint was not made. Ms Byrd’s friends and family, however, wanted the incident highlighted to encourage people to be vigilant.

Earlier this week, her former boyfriend, Michael Lynch, aged 24, was jailed for 30 months for assaulting her at their house on Old Youghal Rd on July 25, 2015.

Lynch, who attacked Ms Byrd because he was jealous of her looking at another man, had denied a charge of assault causing harm.

But a jury at Cork Circuit Criminal found him guilty last Monday of assault. He was found not guilty of threatening to kill Ms Byrd.

The court heard he had poured a kettle of boiling water mixed with sugar over her left leg. Ms Byrd was four and a half months pregnant at the time. In a victim impact statement, she said the attack had a lasting impact on her life, that her confidence and self esteem are at an all-time low, and she doesn’t think she will ever have the confidence to wear a dress or a skirt again.

Meanwhile, in a separate matter, a Garda probe is under way after a passenger on a bus suffered a head injury when a brick was thrown at the vehicle and smashed its rear window.

The man was on the 201 northern orbital service at around 6.30pm on Thursday when the incident occurred in Knocknaheeny. Sinn Féin city councillor, Stephen Cunningham, who was also on the bus, branded those responsible “idiots”.

Bus Éireann said a replacement vehicle arrived to take passengers onwards. “Services continue as normal on the route and will not be curtailed,” a spokeswoman said. “Incidents like this — which are not confined to particular areas — occur from time to time and are in decline.”