A violent criminal who attempted to murder his then partner when she was 32 weeks pregnant shouted “I’ll rip her out of you” as he kicked the woman repeatedly in the stomach, the Central Criminal Court has heard.
Dean Paget (36) pleaded guilty to attempting to murder his former partner Lisa Ward in Dublin 2 and accepted the facts in relation to a charge of intentionally ending the life of a foetus, his unborn child.
In a statement read out at Paget’s sentencing on Monday, Ms Ward said that all she ever wanted was “my little girl, Ruby Rose”.
“I’m only 32 and I don’t know how I’m going to face life with the effect this has had on me,” she said.
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Ms Ward said she wanted Paget to “pay for everything” that he did to her and Ruby Rose.
During a sentencing hearing on Monday, Det Garda Gráinne Collier showed the court CCTV footage showing the assaults on Ms Ward as she and the accused walked along Dame Street towards their tent on Montague Lane in the early hours of April 25th, 2021.
Heinous violence
Anne-Marie Lawlor SC, for Paget, described the footage as a “graphic illustration of heinous violence meted out” by her client. When the footage was shown to the court, Paget became agitated and asked for permission to leave. Mr Justice Paul McDermott allowed him to return to the cell area until the CCTV evidence concluded.
A man who was there to support Ms Ward was escorted out of the court after he spoke up during the graphic footage of Paget repeatedly punching and kicking Ms Ward while she lay on the ground.
Shane Costelloe SC, for the prosecution, told the court that Paget was originally charged with attempted murder, three assaults, false imprisonment, threats to kill and with intentionally ending the life of a foetus.
Det Garda Collier told Mr Costelloe that Paget and Ms Ward were of no fixed abode at the time and were abusing drugs. Ms Ward was a little more than 32 weeks pregnant when she went to the Rotunda Hospital in a “distraught condition” and told staff her partner had assaulted her.
Gardaí started investigating and uncovered a large amount of CCTV footage, which was condensed into a 12-minute montage for the court.
In one piece of footage Paget can be heard asking Ms Ward “Is he your fella?”, which Det Garda Collier said was a reference to another man who Paget had seen with Ms Ward. He then told Ms Ward that he wanted her to come to the tent where they were sleeping rough at that time.
The court then saw footage of the first assault during which Det Garda Collier said the accused could be heard saying “do you want the guards? I’m going to rip her out of you” while he kicked Ms Ward in the abdomen. The detective confirmed that this was a reference to their unborn daughter.
Further attacks
Paget was also recorded dragging Ms Ward along the ground by the hair at Dame Lane and punching her in the back of the head while she walked ahead of him. When they arrived at their tent, Ms Ward could be seen getting in first followed by Paget, who then assaulted her again.
At 10.30am the following morning, Det Gda Collier said Ms Ward left the tent “gingerly” so she did not wake up Paget before running down the road.
Assistant State Pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers found there had been a placental abruption which was likely caused by the assault.
The court heard that When gardaí first tried to speak to Paget he was outside the jurisdiction. He was arrested and interviewed on his return. He initially told gardaí that the account given by Ms Ward was “inaccurate or made up” and that she could not be trusted. When shown CCTV footage of the assaults, he said he had a poor memory of what happened as he was under the influence of drugs at the time.
Paget’s 68 previous convictions are for offences including robbery, criminal damage, violent behaviour at a garda station, theft and misuse of drugs.
Ms Lawlor, for Paget, told the court that her client was a chronic drug user who, as a child, had witnessed routine assaults by his father on his mother. She said that while it will do nothing to reduce the impact on the victim, Paget had asked her to express his remorse for what he did.
“I know her hurt and pain is all my fault,” he said in a written apology to Ms Ward.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott adjourned sentencing until February 7th.