A WOMAN HAS spoken of the horror of being attacked by her husband of forty years with boiling water and a claw hammer while she slept after a night out in Co Cork.

Jackie Twomey today told Cork Circuit Criminal Court that her “life changed” forever on 15 January 2024 when her husband Noel “brually assaulted her” in her bedroom.

In a victim impact statement, Jackie Twomey, 63, said: “It was beyond cruel and evil what he did to me. He poured the boiling water on me and hit me a number of times over the head with the hammer.

“He didn’t seem to care about the damage he was doing to me. I thought I was going to die. I remember the pain and screaming.

“I couldn’t believe what was happening. I was in [Cork Univeristy Hopsital] for six days and needed a lot of follow up care.

“That was the physical side. The psychological trauma is worse. I don’t think I will ever be the same person as I was before that night.”

Twomey of Carbery Grove, Knocknaheeny in Cork pleaded guilty to two counts of assault causing harm to his wife Jackie on 15 January 2024. One of the counts was for pouring boiling water on his wife whilst the second was for hitting her with a claw hammer.

Jackie Twomey said that arising out of the traumatising incident she is afraid of “going to bed”.

She said: “I going to bed and I fear just sleeping. The nightmares return every night, the pain and memories are there al the time but worse at night.

“It’s hard to put in words how my life has changed and the anxiety and terror that have become part of my life. I should have been safe asleep in my own bed.

“I have a very supportive family and friends who are 100% behind me. I hope I get peace some day and [can] be happy but that possibility seems far away. I need that evil man to be gone for good.”

Jackie Twomey thanked gardaí, paramedics, the staff at Cork University Hospital and her own doctor for their help following the incident.

Detective Garda Michael Dolan told Judge Dermot Sheehan that Noel Twomey was arrested at 5am on 15 January 2024 at Bakers Road in Gurranabraher in Cork after he flagged down a patrol car.

He said that that Jackie Twomey had gone to sleep in the safety of her own bed at around 3.30am having arrived home from a social occasion. Dolan stated that her husband made the very conscious decision to boil a pot of water on the stove and to and retrieve a claw hammer from his tool box.

Dolan said that Twomey “considered his actions for a short period” and then entered his bedroom where his wife was sleeping. He then hit her in the head a number of times with a claw hammer and poured the boiling water over her.

Dolan said that Twomey later described the movements of his wife from that night. He had watched the CCTV system that was on the exterior of the property.

The dectective said that Twomey expressed surprise that his was able to jump up and leave the property following his offending behaviour. He left the property and flagged down a patrol car.

He was visibly soaked in blood and in possession of a blood-stained hammer in a plastic bag. Jackie Twomey was treated in intensive care following the incident.

A medical report was furnished to the court today which indicated that Jackie Twomey still suffers from “obvious scarring” to her scalp arising out of the attack. She has a 3.5cm scar on her scalp and when she was hospitalised there was concern that her extensive burns could lead to sepsis.

Doctors say that she narrowly avoided a serious cranial injury. She suffers from PTSD arising out of the incident.

Defence barrister Seamus Roche, SC, said that his client made admissions to gardaí which were “detailed and florid”. He also wrote a letter of apology to his wife.

The 63 year old accused has a diagnosis of depression and ASD. Judge Sheehan further remanded Twomey in custody until 26 June next to allow for the preparation of a psychiatric report in the case.