Tag Archives: Patrick Ballard

A MAN kicked in the door of woman’s bedroom and assaulted her just over a month before murdering another woman in Ennis, a court has heard. Patrick Ballard (35) is serving a life sentence for the murder of mother of two Sharon Bennett (29) in the market area of Ennis on January 28, 2021. Ballard, with former addresses at the Ashford Court hotel, Ennis, appeared before Ennis district this week to be sentenced for offences he committed in the town on December 23, 2020. He pleaded guilty to two charges of criminal damage and one charge of assaulting a woman, all relating to offences at a house in Park Avenue, Clonroad, Ennis. The court heard Ballard has 140 previous convictions including four for assault and nine for criminal damage. Judge Mary Larkin said the accused’s criminal record has to be considered “quite significant”. Of the assault Ballard committed in December 2020, Judge Larkin said, “This woman was attacked in her …

AT THE sentencing hearing last Friday of Patrick Ballard for the murder of Sharon Bennett in Ennis in early 2021, Detective Garda Noelle Bergin detailed the background to the incident. She told prosecution counsel Dominic McGinn SC that Ms Bennett died on February 10, 2021 having been assaulted by Bennett two weeks earlier on January 28. Outlining the events that led up to the murder, Mr McGinn said that both Ms Bennett and Ballard had been living in temporary accommodation in Ennis and were habitually drinking in the centre of Ennis on the afternoon of January 28. At the time of “the violence” the pair had consumed a considerable amount of alcohol, added the detective. At one point, there was a “clear disagreement” between the accused and Ms Bennett, which resulted in the mother-of-two kicking or “striking” Ballard in the face. Ms Bennett, Ballard and a third man Hussein ‘Jamesie’ Abdullah left the car park area to enter a public toilet …

THE father of 29-year-old Sharon Bennett, who was repeatedly kicked and had her head “danced on” by her partner in a public toilet, has said that their lives are “devastated” and described her murder as a nightmare from which they cannot wake up. PJ Bennett told the Central Criminal Court this Friday that he was sorry he had let his daughter down and that he did not protect her enough. He added: “I would like to say that I don’t blame the Ballard family for what happened to my daughter. I blame Patrick Ballard only; we have all lost here”. Mr Bennett also told the court how Covid restrictions meant the family were not permitted to see Sharon in intensive care for five days after she was admitted to hospital and could not hold a proper funeral when she passed away. Sentencing judge Mr Justice Paul Burns noted that the circumstances of the killing were “truly harrowing and grim” and …

A MAN has pleaded guilty two days into his trial at the Central Criminal Court for the murder of his former partner, who he kicked and stamped to death in a public toilet in Clare last year. Defence counsel Mark Nicholas SC, for Patrick Ballard, previously told a jury of seven men and five women that his client admitted his actions caused the death of his partner and accepted that her killing was unlawful. However, Ballard (35), formerly of Ashford Court Hotel, Ennis, Co Clare, had initially pleaded not guilty to murdering Sharon Bennett (29) in the Market area of Ennis on January 28, 2021. Ms Bennett died in hospital in Limerick two weeks later on February 10, 2021, due to her injuries. Mr Ballard and Ms Bennett were in a relationship at the time of the murder. Ms Bennett was a mother of two girls, then aged nine and six, from a previous relationship. This morning, the court heard …

A 35-year-old man carried out “a violent attack” on his partner, mother-of-two Sharon Bennett, by “repeatedly” kicking and stamping on her head in a public toilet in Ennis last year, a prosecution barrister has told a murder trial. Defence counsel Mark Nicholas SC, for Patrick Ballard, told the 12 jurors that his client admitted that his actions caused the death of his partner Ms Bennett and accepted that her killing was unlawful. However, Mr Ballard (35), formerly of Ashford Court Hotel, Ennis, Co Clare has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Bennett (29) in the Market area of Ennis on February 10, 2021. Mr Ballard and Ms Bennett were in a relationship at the time of the alleged murder. Ms Bennett was a mother of two girls, then aged nine and six, from a previous relationship. In his opening address on Wednesday, prosecuting counsel Dominic McGinn SC said Ms Bennett died on February 10 2021 as a result of a …

Gardaí were able to arrest a drug addict, who admitted trespassing with intent to commit theft, after they followed a trail of blood from a hand injury the man sustained while gaining entry to a premises. The shrewd piece of detective work was outlined to Judge Patrick Durcan at this week’s of Ennis District Court when Patrick Ballard (28) was sentenced to a term in prison. The court heard that on July 1 last, at 2.15am, a window was broken at the Spar shop in Lifford and gardaí were called. Arriving on the scene, they found a trail of blood, which led back to Lifford Lodge, where they found Patrick Ballard with cuts to his hand. He had cut his hand in his attempt to get into the shop. The court heard that the defendant had 68 previous convictions, six of them for theft and one for burglary. Mr Ballard’s solicitor, Tara Godfrey, said he has significant difficulty with his …