A 23-year-old Ennis woman has been sentenced to five years in prison, with the final year suspended, for what was described as a “vicious” and “frenzied” attack on a young woman in Ennis this year.
Charlene Sherlock, 23, of 41 Dromard, Lahinch Road, pleaded guilty to causing serious harm to Nicole Keane on April 13, 2013 at the Holy Family School, Station Road in Ennis and with production of a steak knife capable of inflicting serious harm on the same date at the same location.
At a sitting of Limerick Circuit Criminal Court on Friday, Judge Carroll Moran said this was “a vicious and protracted attack with a knife””. He said the CCTV footage of the assault gave the impression that this was “a frenzied attack”.
The injured party was stabbed 22 times but survived the attack.
Judge Moran imposed a five-year prison term and he suspended the last year on the condition that the accused enter a bond to keep the peace for five years. He also ordered that the sentence be backdated to when the accused first went into custody in April 2013. He imposed the sentence in respect of the assault causing serious harm and made no order in respect of the other charge.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.