Mick Clifford: Why did Margaret Loftus wait 13 years for justice after a brutal assault?

Margaret Loftus’s 13-year struggle exposes how institutional delay compounds the trauma of domestic violence victims

Despite his conviction for assaulting his wife Trevor Bolger remains a member of An Garda Síochána, suspended on full pay. File photo: Collins Courts

The assault in question took place on October 25, 2012, when garda Margaret Loftus was viciously attacked by her husband, garda Trevor Bolger. 

It occurred in Margaret’s childhood bedroom in Co Mayo when the couple and their two children were visiting for a family occasion.