The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
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 …
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