Pearse McAuley, who stabbed his wife 13 times, arrives at Cavan court for sentencing

Garda killer Pearse McAuley has arrived at Cavan Circuit Court where he will soon be sentenced for attacking his estranged wife last Christmas.

It’s been six years since he walked out of prison for his part in the killing of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe, who was shot dead in Limerick in 1996.

Pearse McAuley’s prison van was escorted to Cavan courthouse by an unmarked Garda car and arrived a short time ago.

In June, he admitted falsely imprisoning his estranged wife Pauline Tully at the family home in Cavan last Christmas Eve and subjecting her to a brutal attack that lasted two and a half hours.

Last Friday, she described how she was beaten and stabbed 13 times, while their two boys were in the house. She said one of them witnessed the attack and has since had nightmares.

Mr. McAuley is due to be sentenced this afternoon and will be no stranger to prison.

In 1991, the then IRA man escaped from a London jail and fled to Ireland.

Two years later, he was jailed for a firearms offence, and in 1999 he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for his part in the killing of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe in Adare, Co. Limerick three years beforehand.