Cork woman stabbed female 14 times with screwdriver during 'crime of passion'

Victim received stab wounds to her face, scalp and stomach

Fri, 09 Feb, 2024 - 20:45

Liam Heylin

A crime of passion saw a 43-year-old Cork woman stab another woman 14 times with a screwdriver in her own home because she believed the victim was having ‘liaisons’ with her partner.

Three of the stab wounds were to the face, three to the scalp and five of them were to the stomach.

Detective Sergeant Kieran O’Sullivan gave evidence in the sentencing hearing following Jennifer Cronin’s plea of guilty to a charge of assault causing harm to another woman and producing a screwdriver during the attack.

The incident occurred on October 11, 2021. Shortly before 10am, she drove her car to the home of the injured party at Lagan Grove in Mayfield.

“She exited the vehicle. The injured party’s family were there. Ms Cronin produced a screwdriver and attempted to assault the injured party. She stabbed her 14 times with the screwdriver.

“An emergency services doctor arrived at the scene and found she had very serious injuries and was taken to Cork University Hospital.

“Prior to the assault, Jennifer Cronin stopped and spoke to a male who was known to both parties. During this conversation, she said she had a screwdriver. Jennifer Cronin said to this male, ‘I’m going to stick that in her.’

“Jennifer Cronin was arrested two days later. She is 43 and has a total of 51 previous convictions dating from November 1990 to March 2022. She has two Section 2 (simple) assault convictions. The injured party did not want to make a victim impact statement.

“Jennifer Cronin said to the probation officer that this was not a planned assault. I disagree with that. Her intention was to cause harm to this lady,” Det Sgt O’Sullivan testified at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

'Acted on impulse'

Jennifer Cronin, who is living at Brooklodge Grove, Glanmire, County Cork, was represented by barrister Jeff Hitchmough who said the defendant had not come to the attention of gardaí since this incident.

“She accepts full responsibility for her actions on the day. What brought it all about was that she went to confront her about her liaisons with her (Ms Cronin’s) partner. She did not set out to assault her but she saw red. It is out of character. She said she acted on impulse. Her view was that (the injured party) had liaisons with her partner. It is to a certain extent a crime of passion. She is very sorry for what she has done,” Mr Hitchmough said.

The barrister accepted that there was both bad and good in the probation report but said in relation to the high risk of reoffending that she had not offended since October 2021 when this assault occurred.

Judge Colin Daly said he would consider the prosecution evidence and the defence submissions and sentence Ms Cronin on February 12.