Garda Trevor Bolger receives suspended sentence for assaulting wife

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

Garda Trevor Bolger received a three-month suspended sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 16 January for assaulting his then wife, Margaret Loftus, in Co Mayo in October 2012. Judge Martina Baxter suspended the sentence in full on strict conditions.

The court heard that Bolger hit Loftus on the back and grabbed her hair in her childhood bedroom, while their young children were in the room. He had pleaded guilty to the assault.

Judge Baxter said Bolger held a position of trust as a garda and described the assault as a breach of that trust. She accepted that his remorse was genuine and that he was at low risk of reoffending. Outside court, Loftus said the criminal justice process had been as damaging as the abuse itself.