Karol Kelly
A 35-year-old Enniskillen woman who slapped her ex-partner’s new girlfriend across the head after launching a tirade of abuse at her while her ‘terrified’ children watched on has been convicted of assault.
Karol Anne Kelly, of Chanterhill Road, Enniskillen, denied she attacked Sinead McGovern outside Asda in Enniskillen and accused Ms McGovern of “going for her”.
Under cross-examination, Ms McGovern said she and her partner, Dean Cashel were leaving Asda on January 6, earlier this year, when they “stumbled across” Miss Kelly. She explained to the court that they went to the store to buy replacement items for their home after it had been burgled earlier that day.
Ms McGovern explained that the defendant approached them and started making comments regarding what they were buying and about their relationship.
After they all left the store, Miss Kelly got into her car with her children and drove over to the other side of the car park where Ms McGovern and her partner were standing and started shouting obscenities at them and claiming that Ms McGovern had been cheating on Mr Cashel.
Ms McGovern said the defendant called her a c**t and a tramp before threatening to get out and slap her.
Ms McGovern told the court: “She got out of her car and went to Dean asking him to believe her that I had been cheating on him. Then Miss
Kelly struck out and hit me across the head. Dean then intervened by standing between us to prevent any further altercations and I turned away and rang the police.”
Mr Cashel said during his evidence that the children were terrified so he stood between the women.
He added that he had been in a six-year relationship with the accused and that he had contact issues regarding their two children, for which he was going through court.
However, the defendant told the court that she could smell beer and that she shouted at Mr Cashel: “I hope you’re not driving” due to a previous incident.
She told police in a statement that her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend had a drinking, volatile relationship, and she had told them that she had seen Ms McGovern’s two little boys and that they were quite upset and claimed that Sinead came over to her to go for her.
The defendant said in her statement to police that the other two were drinking and Ms McGovern was aggressive, coming at her, eyes blazing and teeth bared.
She claimed Mr Cashel was standing, quite white faced and didn’t come between them.
Se said she stepped out of the car so the children wouldn’t hear the row and had stopped out of concern for Dean as she didn’t want her to lose his licence.
The judge told the court that each side speak ill of the other and that there was bad blood between the two sides, with no impartial witnesses in the case.
“It was quite clear that the first witness, Ms McGovern was agitated when testifying and that Ms Phillips had relied on this as to how she reacted at the time of the incident and Mr Cashel agreed that she was as calm as anyone would be at the time.”
The Judge said that it troubled him that the defendant started any interaction between the parties, especially as the history between them wasn’t good, and he couldn’t see why Ms Kelly considered it necessary to comment on the goods in their trolley, go over to their car, and make a comment regarding drink driving, and why she chose to get out of her car, if she thought that Ms McGovern was angry with her.
The Judge added that he wasn’t happy with any of Ms Kelly’s explanations and said that she involved herself with them, rather than the other way around, although she put a favourable spin on it.
Deputy District Judge Phillip Mateer said he was satisfied that the defendant was annoyed about something that night, regarding the relationship between the parties, and that she raised her arm for no good reason, in order to make contact, so his decision was that it was a deliberate assault.
He added that there was an inability on the defendant’s part to keep her distance from the others and that he had to keep the peace, so was considering some form of binding over and a disposal if she breaches the binding over.
The defendant was bound over to keep the peace for a period of 12 months on her own recognisance of £500, and was told that any harassment, shouting or disorderly behaviour towards them would find her in breach of her binding over.
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