A “cruel and violent” mother who subjected four of her children to “an horrific catalogue of abuse” enjoyed shared access to three of them for months after gardaí were first told about the abuse in April 2015.

On Monday at Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Gerald Keys imposed a three-year suspended sentence on the 47-year-old woman after saying he could not see any benefit to society in jailing her.

In the case, the woman pleaded guilty to ill-treating and neglecting her four children over a 30 month period between October 2012 to April 2015.

In the evidence before the court, the son who brought the abuse to the attention of the authorities, said his mother made his life “a living hell” through years of physical and emotional abuse.

In his victim impact statement, he said: “I often thought about killing her as I know it would make life better for my siblings but that would mean they would have to grow up without their older brother and they didn’t deserve that.”

Gardaí were first told of the allegations of cruelty and neglect in April 2015. However, it was not until February 2016 when Tusla, the Child and Family Agency moved for the woman to have only supervised access for three of the children.

The son who brought the abuse to the attention of the gardaí was not subject to the Tusla application as he was over 18 at that stage.

The woman had enjoyed shared access of the children with her estranged husband between July 2015 and late February 2016. Tusla then moved to ensure the woman had supervised access only to the children.

At the recent sentencing hearing of the woman, Garda Kevin Duffy told the court that only the youngest of the three children is taking up on the offer of access with their mother.

In a statement yesterday, Tusla said it was unable to comment on the specifics of individual cases to protect the privacy of children and families. However, a spokeswoman said: “All referrals of child protection and welfare concerns to Tusla – Child and Family Agency are responded to in line with Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children.”