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