Man sentenced to 15 years for hammer attack on wife

A man who tried to kill his wife by beating her with a hammer at their home in Dublin has been jailed for 15 years.

Last month, Andrzej Benko of Ladyswell Road, Mulhuddart was found guilty of the attempted murder of Joanna Benko almost four years ago.

Joanna Benko is now almost fully confined to a wheelchair, needs a full time carer, has difficulties communicating and has regressed into a child-like state.

On the morning of her 32nd birthday in July 2010, her husband Andrzej Benko got up early to pick up some flowers to mark the occasion.

Upon his return he scooped their then 3-year-old son from their bed and carried him downstairs. He then placed the flowers in a vase before fetching a lump hammer and hitting his sleeping wife three times in the head.

Convinced he had killed her, Andrzej handed himself in to Gardaí and told them he attacked her because he felt her drug habit was destroying their family.

Mr. Justice Patrick McCarthy said her "skull was smashed into pieces" in what he described as an "unprovoked act of extreme violence".

He then jailed the Polish native for 15 years.