Mick Clifford: Family bond endures for former garda determined to finally achieve justice

Margaret Loftus’ victim impact statement was a defiant message of support to other survivors of domestic violence

'Here and there, while Margaret related her experience, her voice threatened to break. But she held it together, drawing strength from the presence of her father beside her.' Picture: Collins Courts

Margaret Loftus’s father sat beside her in the witness box, just as he had stood at her side 13 years ago when she told her husband that their marriage was over. 

The latter occasion was on October 31, 2012, some eight hours after her husband Trevor Bolger had assaulted her in front of their children.