Dean Paget jailed for attempted murder of pregnant partner

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

Dean Paget was sentenced at the Central Criminal Court to 14 years in prison, with the final 12 months suspended for two years, for the attempted murder of his former partner Lisa Ward. The proceedings were reported on 7 February 2023.

Paget pleaded guilty to attempted murder. He accepted the facts concerning a charge of intentionally ending the life of a foetus. The court also took into account charges of false imprisonment, causing harm to Ward and threatening to kill her and their baby.

The attack took place on 25 April 2021 as the couple made their way through Dublin to their tent on Montague Lane. Ward was about 32 weeks pregnant. Paget struck and kicked her, dragged her by the hair and threatened her and their baby. Their daughter, Ruby Rose, was confirmed dead at the Rotunda Hospital later that day. The court heard that a placental abruption was likely to have been caused by the assaults.

Gardaí showed Paget CCTV footage of the assaults. He said he had a poor memory of what happened because he was under the influence of drugs. His barrister, Anne-Marie Lawlor SC, said he accepted what he had done, expressed remorse and had apologised to Ward.

Mr Justice Paul McDermott described the effect on Ward as harrowing. In mitigation, he considered Paget’s guilty plea, remorse, drug and alcohol problems and violence he had witnessed as a child. The suspended sentence was conditional on Paget working with probation services and continuing to address his addiction; the judge also required him to address violence.