A Kildare woman who injured her partner after discharging a shotgun when she discovered he was having an affair has been given a two-year suspended jail sentence.
Andrea Booth (48) of Nurney Bog Road, Nurney, Co Kildare pleaded guilty at Naas Circuit Criminal Court to a charge of recklessly discharging a firearm at the home she shared with her partner, Patrick Healy, on October 7, 2020, contrary to Section 8 of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1990.
Garda James Young told the court on Friday that the couple had been drinking the previous evening in a pub in Kildare town where Mr Healy had consumed eight pints and the accused had also drunk some alcohol before they returned to their log cabin home outside Nurney.
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Garda Young said Booth had “flipped” over the recent discovery that her partner had been having an affair. The court heard that Mr Healy heard his partner hitting his car and later hitting the wall of a bedroom with his legally held shotgun.
Garda Young said the gun was discharged during the incident and Mr Healy suffered wounds from two shotgun pellets which struck his arm.
He said Mr Healy was able to disarm Booth before her family came and took her away from the property. The court heard the couple had since reconciled and remained in a stable relationship with Mr Healy accompanying his partner in court.
Garda Young said Booth had admitted being angry when questioned by gardaí. She recalled feeling the weapon was “long and heavy” as she was sitting on a bed.
Garda Young said Booth next remembered hearing a bang which she said “scared the shit out of me.” She added: “I never wanted to hurt him.”
Garda Young said the accused could not really remember the incident and did not even know if she meant to fire the weapon. Counsel for Booth, Tony McGillicuddy SC, said a probation report had found that his client posed a low risk of re-offending.
Mr McGillicuddy said Booth was a law-abiding citizen who wished to apologise to her partner and was very sorry for what had happened during the course of an argument which he described as “an act of madness.”
The barrister said his client was the eldest of six children and worked as a cashier with Dunnes Stores. Pleading for leniency, Mr McGillicuddy said Booth had learnt a very difficult lesson from the incident.
Judge Martin Nolan noted that Mr Healy had suffered minor injuries from pellets fired by the gun after Booth had discharged the weapon “accidentally but recklessly.” The judge noted that the case showed that storing weapons in houses could lead to all kinds of incidents.
“If the victim was a bit more unlucky, she could be in a different court. Everybody was somewhat lucky,” Judge Nolan remarked. He added: “The mixture of firearms and alcohol just doesn’t’ go.”
Judge Nolan sentenced Booth to a prison term of two years which he fully suspended on condition that she be bound to the peace over the period.
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