A 42-year-old crèche worker who grabbed a three-year-old child by the neck and pushed him appeared on an assault charge at Trim District Court. The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, worked at the crèche in Co Meath. The court was told that the child was crying following the incident and another staff worker intervened. A video of the assault was shown in court. A victim impact statement was provided by the child’s parents who were in court.
When defendant was interviewed by Gardai she expressed shock at her behaviour and said she had let down the organisation she worked for. A barrister told the court that the woman had apologised for what had happened. The woman who had worked in the child care sector for eight years and the incident had had “ a huge effect on her”, the barrister said. “She is deeply apologetic for what had happened”.
The mother of the child told the court that she and her husband had not been informed on the day of the incident. The defendant was directed by Judge Stephanie Coggans to apologise directly to the parents and she stood up in court and did so. The judge directed defendant to donate €200 to the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and struck out the charge.
As the case was concluding the mother of the child and the mother of the defendant embraced.
