A YOUNG MOTHER who represented Ireland in boxing stabbed a distant cousin 12 times, leaving her with “catastrophic injuries” on a Mullingar street, a court has heard.

Mary Nevin (25) was remanded in custody on Tuesday evening pending sentencing for the unprovoked knife attack, which Judge Keenan Johnson branded as savage.

Nevin, a mother of two who once captained an elite underage Irish boxing team, pleaded guilty at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court to causing serious harm to her second cousin, Mary-Kate Nevin (22), on 3 May 2024, near the accused’s home on Austin Friars Street in the midlands town.

After viewing CCTV footage and photos of the injuries, Judge Keenan Johnson said the accused had caused catastrophic injuries.

He also noted the Director of Public Prosecutions urged a 10 to 15-year sentence.

Judge Johnson strongly criticised violent feuding among the Travelling Community, saying it had a wonderful culture to be proud of, but it was diminished and dragged into the gutter by this type of incident.

He added that it was also an affront not only to their community but also to the citizenry of Mullingar.

Detective Garda Adrian O’Reilly said Mary-Kate Nevin and her partner were planning a night out, but intended to stop at her sister’s first.

As she walked along Austin Friars Street, the accused opened her door and repeatedly asked her to come inside.

The victim told gardaí she barely knew the accused, having met her only once, and refused, saying she did not want any trouble.

Mary Nevin told the victim, “I’ll slit your fucking throat, you ugly tramp,” ran at her and hit her in the face.

The victim felt what she thought were pinches, and when she got away, she could see she was bleeding heavily.

At that point, she noticed the accused walking back into her apartment holding a black-handled kitchen knife.

It emerged that the victim had been stabbed 12 times on her shoulder and down her arms.

The court heard how tensions flared up on social media between different sides of a row that stemmed from a €40 drug debt, which had nothing to do with the victim.

She underwent emergency surgery, plastic surgery, blood transfusions and has been left permanently injured.

The court heard she lost all mobility in her left arm and hand, meaning she cannot return to work as a hairdresser, which had been her lifelong goal. Daily tasks have become impossible to do on her own.

She was learning to drive but had to stop because she could no longer control a car.

The wounds forced her to stop further training in hairdressing, and she described how the attack had “stolen my future”.

She had never been in a fight and was unable to defend herself against the accused, who was a trained boxer.

Mary-Kate also spoke out about having never brought trouble on herself with gardaí or among the Travelling or settled community.

The court heard she had to cope with PTSD, depression, nightmares and flashbacks and barely goes out. “I’m a quarter the person I was,” she said.

It also emerged that she suffered intimidation afterwards and that Mary Nevin had laughed at her about it since.

She was in constant extreme fear and described the knife attack as gruesome, adding that the ordeal will remain with her the rest of her life.

The accused, Mary Nevin, also gave evidence and said: “I want to apologise from the bottom of my heart”.

She offered €5,000 as a token of remorse to her younger cousin, which was declined. The court heard she was engaged in a training course and availing of therapeutic supports.

She had no recorded criminal convictions but received the Probation of Offenders Act for public order and violent disorder offences seven weeks before the stabbing.

The court heard she had a young child, was breastfeeding, and she too had been a victim of a brutal assault.

Nevin had been attacked by a Russian coach in 2016 during a European Championship competition in Germany.

She told the court on Tuesday that it affected her significantly and led to her quitting boxing.

She also spoke about having suffered from depression and been the victim of domestic violence in a past relationship.

References from a former coach and a priest were handed into the court.

Judge Johnson told defence counsel John Hayden SC that he wished to consider sentencing and adjourned the case until later this month.

The charge is under section 4 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.