Man given four years for assault on widow

An Offaly man who beat a Cork widow so violently it left blood splatters throughout his flat has been jailed for four years by Judge Katherine Delahunt at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Ms Bernadette Barnes (aged 48) a mother of six from Knocknaheeny, Cork, died 10 days later in hospital from a heart attack but it was accepted this was not related to the injuries she received in the assault.

Jean Champ (aged 51), from Tullamore where his family once owned two drapery stores, first tried to tell gardaí he was in custody at the time of the assault on January 19, 2006, but this was found to be false.

Champ, who had an address at a Dublin City Council flat at St Mary's Terrace, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm and to attempting to intentionally or recklessly cause Ms Barnes serious harm.

Judge Delahunt backdated the sentence to when he went into custody in January 2006 meaning he has already served the majority of his term.

Sergeant Mark Waters told prosecuting counsel, Mr Cormac Quinn BL, that the caretaker saw the woman lying face down "covered in blood" outside Champ’s flat.

She was naked except for a pair of bottoms and a neighbour, Oisín McShortall, told gardaí he heard shouting and screaming coming from the flat from about 2am to 6am.

Sgt Waters said that when gardaí arrived, Champ had taken Ms Barnes back inside and she was sitting on the couch with a broken nose, a black eye and severe cuts and bruises.

Champ's shoes and jeans were covered in blood and there were blood splatters throughout the flat, including on the ceiling.

Sgt Waters said Champ was very drunk and had swollen hands. He told gardaí he "boxed her" because she had a man in the flat while he was out and would not tell him who it was.

Champ claimed he only hit her once in the neck before she left the flat. He claimed he did not know anything about the screaming because he was not there and falsely claimed he was in the garda station at the time.

Sgt Waters said Ms Barnes was admitted to hospital where she was treated for a brain haemorrhage and a broken hand as well as other cuts and bruises.

She suffered a heart attack on January 21, 2006, resulting from serious heart disease, and died a week later. Ms Barnes was heavy drinker and her husband had passed away 10 years ago.

Champ said he met her at a hostel and in November 2005 offered to let her stay in his Dublin City Council flat which Sgt Waters described as a "halfway house" where homeless people gathered and drank alcohol.

Sgt Waters said an examination of the flat concluded there had been "one sustained assault or two separate ones". There were "airborne" blood stains on the ceiling, suggesting the blood had travelled through the air. There were also blood splatters in the hallway which someone had attempted to wipe off.

Sgt Waters agreed with Mr Michael O'Higgins SC, defending, that "strife and squabbling" would not be unusual in the St Mary’s Terrace flat.

Mr O'Higgins said Champ came from a very respectable and affluent Tullamore family that owned two drapery stores. He got a good Leaving Certificate and was captain of the school rugby team before he moved to London but returned to Ireland in 1999 when he got his first conviction as a 42 year old and soon became homeless and an alcoholic.

Mr O Higgins said Champ was stabbed in the head with a corkscrew in 1999 and his brain was damaged as a result. He was later diagnosed as having a personality disorder which resulted in him having an inability to trust people, and being both resentful and arrogant.

Champ received an inheritance of €60,000 from his mother in 2002 "but this was soon squandered" and shortly afterwards he was granted the flat by Dublin City Council. Since the 1999 attack he had run up 35 convictions, almost all for public order offences.

Mr O'Higgins said Ms Barnes had been living with Champ but he became annoyed that she was not contributing to the household. The situation became volatile and he asked her to leave. She did but then returned and this was when this incident occurred.