Carol Sanders receives fully suspended 18-month sentence

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Judge Brian O’Callaghan gave Carol Sanders an 18-month sentence, suspended in full subject to strict conditions.

Sanders pleaded guilty to producing a weapon in a way likely to intimidate her mother, Mary Sanders. The court also took two further weapon-production charges and an assault charge into account. The proceedings were reported on 22 November 2016.

The attack happened on 24 November 2015 at the Ballybrack home the women shared. John Quirke, prosecuting, said Sanders became jealous and agitated after learning that her sister and uncle were returning from Canada.

Mr Quirke described Sanders kicking her mother, attempting to choke her and holding a carving knife against her throat. He said she subsequently took another knife, brought it close to her mother’s chest and threatened to kill her. Mary Sanders escaped and alerted gardaí.

Michael Bowman, defending, said Sanders’ personality disorder dated from childhood. He said she developed alcoholism towards the end of her marriage, which ended in the early 2000s. He acknowledged the frightening nature of the incident but said her mother sustained no physical injury.

According to the report, Sanders spent two months in custody following her arrest and was subsequently living in supervised accommodation. Mr Bowman said her anti-psychotic and anti-anxiety medication had been increased and she was no longer drinking alcohol.

Mr Bowman said Sanders had agreed to the barring order obtained by her mother and hoped they could rebuild their relationship. He also told the court she had provided a letter expressing her apology.