Victim alleges 'constant stalling tactics'

MICHAEL WARD only agreed to change his plea from not guilty to guilty when all hope of acquittal was gone, his former fiancée said in her victim impact statement.

The woman, who is suffering from cancer, said Ward had hoped she would be too ill to give evidence against him in court.

“I firmly believe his constant stalling tactics once he was charged were an attempt to delay things to such an extent that I would be too sick or no longer be alive to testify,” she said in a statement read out in court by Det Garda Kevin Keys who investigated the case.

The 38-year-old said she was told on October 27th, 2006, that she had cancer, but was unable to register the news because of the manner in which Ward had “deceived, betrayed and manipulated” her in the previous four months.

The woman said she pursued the case against him despite the potential damage it would do to her failing health because she wanted to stop Ward deceiving other women. “Someone like me. Someone’s daughter or son.”

She also said she had a “very strong desire” to have Ward named and to keep her own anonymity.

She outlined how Ward had been given many opportunities to admit his guilt after he was presented with the book of evidence, but he declined. Had he done so it would have “greatly helped me move on to allow me to focus on my health and recovery,” she added.