A 23-year-old mother of two was yesterday jailed for her role in a violent assault at an impromptu Halloween party sparked by the victim evicting three revellers engaging in a 'threesome'.

At Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Carroll Moran jailed Carrie Brigdale of Mill House Flats, Mill Road, Ennis, Co Clare, for two years after she pleaded guilty to assaulting Ugandan man Collins Kato at his apartment on October 31, 2010.

Brigdale also pleaded guilty to violent disorder and counsel for the State, Stephen Coughlan, told the court yesterday that she had given birth to her second child since her last appearance before the court on the matter in May.

In sentencing, Judge Moran said that Brigdale – who was not part of the threesome – was the most culpable of the seven people before the court.

Judge Moran said that before stabbing Mr Kato twice in the neck, Brigdale "made the terrifying threat to the others 'if this fella lives, we're in big trouble', clearly intimating that the victim might be killed".

In response to Brigdale's threat, one of the males replied, "cut his throat".

In his victim impact statement, Mr Kato confirmed that he had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the attack. He said: "Thank God, I am alive."

After Brigdale cut Mr Kato's throat and headbutted him, the gang left the apartment after dragging Mr Kato from the bed on to the landing.

Judge Moran said that the attack was sparked off after Mr Kato threw out three people he had found in a sexually compromised situation in a bedroom.

The party had started when Mr Kato had invited a girl he knew over to view a room to rent. She was accompanied by another woman and the two had brought drink with them.

After later coming across the 'threesome', Mr Kato told them to get dressed and leave.

The judge gave Brigdale a week to present herself for imprisonment.

Irish Independent