Man who ‘beat crap’ out of former partner insists he is now sober

A man who ‘beat the crap’ out of his former partner in what a judge previously described as a ‘disgusting’ attack is anxious that the court know he is now sober.

Kevin Bardon (37), of Grange Crescent, Mullingar, County Westmeath, appeared before Judge Kenneth Connolly at Mullingar Circuit Court, charged with assaulting his former fiancée, causing her harm on December 4, 2023.

In March, Judge Keenan Johnson heard evidence of how gardaí encountered the woman shortly after the assault, in an emotional state and bleeding from the back of her head. She also had a cut and swelling to the left side of her forehead, a cut on her right eye and swelling and bruising under her left eye.

She had told gardaí that “Kevin beat the crap out of me”. Mr Bardon was not in the house when gardaí arrived. The woman was taken to hospital by ambulance, where she was treated for her injuries.

She refused to give a statement at that time, but consented to photographs of her injuries being taken. On February 2, 2024, she gave a statement to gardaí that Mr Bardon was in her home and that they were “having a few drinks” before “he beat the crap out of me”.

Mr Bardon has 56 previous convictions, including one for assault causing harm, six for burglary, four for criminal damage, 18 for drugs-related offences, and numerous road traffic convictions.

He previously served an eight-month prison sentence for attacking the same victim, and has a history of addiction issues.

Mr Bardon, in the witness box in March, told the court that he is “completely off alcohol” and is now on medication which causes him to be violently ill if he takes drugs.

When asked by Judge Johnson if he saw the photographs of his former partner’s injuries, he said “they’re disgusting”.

“To think I’d do something like that to someone I love so much… and the worst bit is I don’t even remember it,” he said.

When he appeared this week before Judge Connolly, his counsel Andrea Callan, BL, told the court her client “would like to keep working on getting into a treatment facility”.

“He’s anxious that the court know he’s now sober and is doing everything he can,” she said.

Judge Connolly remanded Mr Bardon in custody to January 21, 2026, for sentence, and made a request that the governor of Wheatfield Prison organise random urine analysis between now and then.