Man tried to poison his partner of thirty years
Carlow man Mark O'Neill (62) pleaded guilty to poisioning his partner
A CARLOW man pleaded guilty last week to poisoning his partner of 30 years after she asked him to make a snack for her.
The local district court heard that on 20 August this year, Mark O’Neill’s partner asked him to make her a sandwich and that he allegedly placed medication in it by crushing up some tablets.
Mr O’Neill, Cois na Coille, Pollerton Road, Carlow was subsequently charged under section 12 of the , which is defined as ‘intentionally or recklessly administering, or causing to be taken, a substance which he/she knows to be capable of interfering substantially with the other’s bodily functions’ at a special sitting of Wexford District Court on 23 August.
Last week, 62-year-old Mr O’Neill appeared before the weekly sitting of Carlow District Court, where court presenter Sergeant Hud Kelly told Judge Geraldine Carthy that the Director of Public Prosecutions directed that the matter should be dealt with at that level if the defendant entered a guilty plea.
Defending solicitor John O’Sullivan said his client wished to plead guilty, but Judge Carthy said that she was refusing jurisdiction in the case.
“All day long, this should not be a district court matter,” she said. The judge adding that she was “shocked” at the DPP’s decision.
She then formally refused jurisdiction and sent the case back to the DPP’s office.
Judge Carthy remanded Mr O’Neill on continuing bail and adjourned the case until 20 November next for a book of evidence to be served on the defendant.
