A social welfare office manager who beat his wife to death with a car jack and pleaded guilty to manslaughter has been cleared of murder by a jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. He faces sentencing on the manslaughter charge in December.
Patrick Hennessy's wife, Marie, died two days after he attacked her on the side of the road near Callan, Co Kilkenny, in May 1999. The court heard that Hennessy (37) of Killaloe, Callan, attacked his wife on May 10th, 1999, during an argument after he was suspended from work for embezzlement.
Members of Mrs Hennessy's family cried loudly as the unanimous verdict was returned; a Garda sergeant appealed for calm. The accused bowed his head and put his hands to his face. Mr Justice Finnegan remanded him in custody for sentencing on December 8th.
During the seven-day trial, the court heard that Hennessy was manager of the Callan social welfare office and was the subject of an investigation by the Department of Family, Community and Social Affairs since January 1999.
On May 7th, 1999, he was suspended but did not want to tell his wife because he knew if would worry her. The following Monday, Mrs Hennessy was travelling to Kilkenny city in her car with her two young daughters. Hennessy escorted them in his car and drove back to his wife's vehicle when she stopped at the side of the road near Killaloe church. He told her he had been suspended from his job and they argued.
Hennessy said his wife slapped him on the face and he beat her on the head with her car jack. He broke down in the witness box and said he didn't know how many times he hit her with it.
He admitted lying to gardai about what happened and said he decided to tell the truth after detectives told him they didn't believe him. Ms Maureen Clark, defending, argued that Hennessy had been provoked by surrounding circumstances, which led to a sudden and complete loss of his mind during the attack.