Jailed for five years for stabbing

HORROR Knifed man from behind

The first Declan Ferguson realised he had been stabbed was when he felt “wet” running down his back. Tom Ward had taken a black-handled knife from the kitchen of the apartment in which both men had been socialising and knifed Mr Ferguson from behind, to the left side of his face and into his upper back in a scene described as being like a “horror film”.

As Mr Ferguson bled heavily on the floor at 3 Convent Court in Tom the early hours of September 21, 2019, Ward fled the scene before presenting at Bailieborough Garda Station in a “distressed and irritable state”.

At the station Ward, with an address at 7 Convent Court, Bailieborough, told gardaí about a stabbing incident at the nearby apartment. He had a “small graze” to his hand and informed gardaí how a man “he did not know” had entered the neighbouring apartment and “stabbed a person” before leaving the scene.

“He was in a hurried and confused state,” Cavan Circuit Court heard last month. When he was detained afterwards, Ward was found “not fit” for interview due to his level of intoxication.

Ward pleaded guilty to the attack causing serious harm to Mr Ferguson back in March 2020. The maximum sentence available to the court was one 10 years’ imprisonment.

In what was described as an “unusual” application at the time by Ward’s own legal representative, Stephen Wilson BL, instructed by Hugh Sheridan, sought to revoke the defendant’s bail and to have him remanded in custody to Castlerea “specifically” for the purposes of attaining a psychiatric report.

Sergeant Karl Colgan, attached to Bailieborough Garda Station, gave evidence, with case details relayed by prosecutor Monica Lawlor BL, instructed by State Solicitor Rory Hayden.

‘Well oiled’

The court was told how Mr Ferguson had been drinking in Crossan’s Pub the evening before. By the time he arrived at 3 Convent Court, home of Charlene Smith and Joseph Mullally, Mr Ferguson was, by his own admissions, “well oiled”. He remembered Ward being at the flat, who walked around the back of Mr Ferguson as he was sitting down. In his statement to gardaí, Mr Ferguson said he “felt something spill on me like water”, that was “wet” and it was only after he realised it was “blood”.

“I tried to stay calm,” he said, adding that he had “no falling out” with Ward.

Mr Ferguson was hospitalised and taken from Cavan General to Dublin’s Beaumont and then on to Blanchardstown Hospital where surgeons carried out a number of emergency operations.

The accounts of Ms Smith and Mr Mullally differed, the court was told.

Ms Smith told gardaí how Mr Ferguson came to their flat and was “doing no harm”. She said how Ward came to the door and “thumped” Mr Ferguson to the side of the head for “no reason” in a row connected to an alleged deal gone sour for a €4,500 Volkswagen Passat. It was later that Ward went to their kitchen, took a knife they used to “peel potatoes” and used it to stab Mr Ferguson.

She said Ward had held the knife down by his side before circling to the rear of Mr Ferguson. He stabbed Mr Ferguson up to three times before running from the apartment.

Mr Mullally remembered opening the door to Ward and letting him inside. An altercation flared up between Ward and Mr Ferguson, with the latter getting a “thump to the chin” but this soon “settled down”, with “slagging” replacing any physical involvement.

He said Mr Ferguson was apologising for arriving “so drunk”. Mr Mullally was “unaware” Ward had gone to the kitchen, but heard a “drawer close”, following which the defendant emerged armed with the knife.

‘Horror film’

“Everyone was completely stunned,” said Mr Mullally after Ward stabbed Mr Ferguson to the “side of the neck”.

He said “blood started gushing” and described the scene “like a horror film”.

Garda Paddy Galligan was the first respond to the reported stabbing, before he received a call that a potential male suspect had arrived at Bailieborough Garda Station shortly after 3am.

The knife used by Ward in the attack was never found.

During his first interview Ward told gardaí that a masked man had come through the flat door and stabbed Mr Ferguson.

A second interview provided nothing of probative value and, in a third, Ward was shown CCTV, but refused to identify himself in it.

In a fourth interview Ward denied attacking Mr Ferguson or having a knife.

Mr Ferguson suffered a four-centimetre laceration to his neck, and five to seven centimetre wound to his face. A wound to his back was four centimetres deep.

Plastic surgery

The 44 year old required plastic surgery, and the stabbing to his left cheek caused facial paralysis. The court was further informed it is likely Mr Ferguson will require further surgery in future.

Staining on Ward’s runners was forensically examined with a chance of one in 1000 million not linking it to Mr Ferguson’s blood.

Ward had two previous convictions at the time, for public order at Virginia District Court, and affray for which he was fined at Ennis District Court.

Cavan Circuit Court was informed that “little was known” about Ward’s personal circumstances, only that he was native to the west of Ireland, was married with two children, and had a difficult upbringing.

By the time he came before the court for sentencing, he had spent 10 months behind bars on the specific charge.

Victim impact

Mr Ferguson, who was present in court, gave evidence that the stabbing still affected him. He still had sore teeth, a pain in his ear, and his eye watered.

Showing the scarring to the judge he said: “I don’t go out at night now as much as I did.”

He added: “It’s hard to know what to say. I still don’t know why it happened.”

Apology

Ward next took the stand. He apologised, and said he regrets what happened.

“I ask for forgiveness. It was never meant to happen,” said Ward, who informed the court that he had “felt intimidated” by Mr Ferguson, who he said he’d ask to move away from him several times but didn’t. “I’m not a bad guy,” said Ward. “If I could take it all back I would.”

It was stated by Ms Lawlor that the DPP viewed the seriousness of the charge as being in the “mid-range”.

Counsel for Ward described the case as “difficult and disturbing”, and noted that the defendant was “anxious” to continue to engage with counselling while behind bars.

It was said that Ward, the second youngest of nine, had “suffered the utmost horrific abuse” as a young person, spent time in as many as 20 foster homes as a result, and accepts he has “unresolved” issues attached to that trauma that need to be dealt with.

Before mitigation Judge Aylmer said the attack warranted a term of imprisonment of seven years.

But he accepted Ward’s remorse, excessive consumption of alcohol on the night, and the details of his difficult upbringing and how this had impacted him psychologically.

Reducing sentencing to five years, he suspended the final 12 months for 12 months, with Ward entering a bond that, on release, he must abstain from alcohol and engage with the probation services.

A nolle prosequi was entered in respect of a remaining outstanding count on the indictment.

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