Woman (20s) went on ‘rampage’ of ‘unprovoked, savage assaults’

A woman who went on an “absolutely chaotic rampage” which involved the savage assaults of four random women in the streets of Mullingar, is due to reappear in court in July, with a judge indicating her crimes are “too serious not to warrant a custodial sentence”.

Caitlin Bardon (24), with an address at 147 Dalton Park, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, appeared before Judge Keenan Johnson at Mullingar Circuit Court this week, charged with assaulting four women who were going about their business in Mullingar town.

A total of five charges were brought against Ms Bardon - three for section 3 assault, one for section 2 assault and another for section 6 public order. Guilty pleas were entered on all charges in November.

Garda Enda Kelly gave evidence of how, on May 8, 2024, at approximately 2pm, he was made aware of a number of incidents in various locations around Mullingar.

The first of those incidents occurred on Dominick Street, when a mother was exiting a café after buying a babycino for her three-year-old son.

“At the door, she handed her son the babycino and felt a punch to the right side of her head, she looked up and saw Caitlin Barden, who looked like she was going to lunge again, so she pushed her,” said Cathal Ó’Broanáin, BL, prosecuting for the state.

She described the accused as “very erratic” and said there was a male holding her back. The assault left the injured party with a small cut behind her ear. In a victim impact statement read out in court, she said the incident was “very shocking and unsettling” and that she was concerned about the effect it had on her child.

From there, Ms Bardon moved to Castle Street, where another woman noticed her in an agitated state, arguing with a male.

Ms Bardon began shouting at the woman: “you’re a tramp, you’re a whore, I’m going to tear you”, prompting the woman to go into a clothing store.

The accused followed her, continuing to shout at her, and staff members came to the woman’s side. Ms Bardon left the store and the woman saw her cross the road and hit another woman.

That woman had left work to get a prescription for her mother when, on the way back, the accused came and punched her in the head in a “totally unprovoked” attack.

Ms Bardon then moved on to Harbour Street, where another woman noticed a male and female “screaming at each other” and banging on a window as they argued.

The woman continued walking and then felt someone grab the bun of her hair and drag her to the ground. She looked up and saw Ms Bardon standing over her, screaming. The woman suffered pain to her lower back, arms and her head, and attended A&E for treatment.

The final assault took place in a Tesco store, where another woman was carrying a basket of groceries at 1.30pm. She was making her way to the till when she was approached by Ms Bardon who said “I’ll show you, I’ll show you” and pushed her hard, causing her to land on her back and hit her head on the floor.

The accused continued to grab her and push her, and took her keys and phone. The woman managed to grab those back but Ms Bardon again pushed her to the ground and screamed at her.

The woman suffered pain to her head and face following the assault. The left side of her face suffered some swelling and the left side of her head was tender.

When alerted to the incidents, Garda Kelly found Ms Bardon and arrested her, but she remained “highly aggressive”.

When interviewed, she told Gardaí she had taken six or seven Tranax tablets that weren’t prescribed to her at around 5 or 6 o’clock that morning.

Ms Bardon has 16 previous convictions, which include public order, theft, assault, criminal damage and trespassing, all committed between October 2022 and May 2024.

Ms Andrea Callan, BL, for the defence, told the court that her client had taken “a significant amount of medication” and that these incidents “interspersed this ongoing fight” she was having with her partner.

She said Ms Bardon had been under a lot of “personal pressure” at the time, that the incidents were random, and that she was instructed to pass on her client’s “sincerest apologies” and to tender the modest sum of €300 to the court as “a small gesture of compensation”.

“She is and continues to be horrified by what happened,” she said.

Ms Callan added that her client has had “an extremely complex and chaotic life to date” and that she had spent four months in custody on these charges before being released on bail in September after she had “demonstrated a significant amount of progress”.

“This was an absolutely chaotic rampage. It was absolutely shocking and she is absolutely horrified. She doesn’t have a massive recollection of it but it seems to have been periods of rage occurring with whoever was in front of her,” said Ms Callan.

Ms Bardon detoxed in the Dóchas women’s prison and is “taking matters very seriously”, she added.

Judge Johnson said that Ms Bardon had gone on “a chaotic rampage, which involved a series of unprovoked and seriously violent attacks”.

“This is extremely serious and it’s just not acceptable in civilised society. It’s not going to be tolerated. This is a series of offences that warrants an immediate custodial sentence,” he said, adding that he would be “failing” in his duties if he did not follow through with a custodial sentence.

He adjourned sentencing to July 8, remanding Ms Bardon on bail with a number of conditions, including that she engage with probation and mental health services, that she undergo fortnightly urine analysis, have no contact with the injured parties and that she continue to gather compensation for the victims.

She has also been warned to refrain from the consumption of drugs or alcohol.