Mother forced son to watch her having sex with her brother

 A mother of six who sexually abused her son
during a childhood of fear and neglect is
expected to be sentenced next week. The 58-year-old has appeared in Belfast Crown Court with her ex-husband, two brothers and two former lovers, one an ex-
RUC man. The woman dressed in a red anorak and
black jeans, had previously pleaded guilty to
forcing her son to watching her have sex
with her brothers and ex-RUC reserve
Constable Thomas Fitzpatrick in the 1970s. She also made the youngster put her
breasts in his mouth during a period of
abuse and neglect that started when he was
four. The Belfast court heard about a litany of
horrific cruelty meted out to four of six
siblings - one boy and his three younger
sisters - by their own parents, uncles and
others, including Fitzpatrick, 53, and a baker
Patrick Kilmartin, 59. The men visited the couple’s various Co
Down houses which were chaotic, filthy and
infested with rodents up to 30 years ago. In one of the worst cases of its kind to come
before the Crown Court in Northern Ireland,
prosecuting QC Charles MacCreanor
revealed how the youngsters lived in
constant fear and suffered physical and sexual abuse, and neglect. It started when they were tots in cots and
lasted until 1986 when they were finally
taken into care, the youngest aged eight and
the oldest, 11. Judge Mr Justice Horner heard how the
mother sought to ‘educate’ her daughters,
now in their 30s, about sex by making them
watch her have intercourse with various men
including her brothers. She told them: “You’ll
have to learn this.” The girls were not only subjected to sexual
assaults and gross indecency, but were
savagely beaten by their father over the
years. On two separate occasions they were
beaten so hard and for so long that they wet
themselves in fear. Patrick Kilmartin had admitted his part in the
crimes All six accused, including Fitzpatrick,
originally from Crewhill Gardens in Ardglass,
and Kilmartin, originally from Bryansford
Gardens in Newcastle, previously pleaded
guilty to a total of 49 charges between them,
dating back to the summer of 1977 to the spring of 1988. The woman and her co-accused sat
passively in the dock as they listened to the
prosecution describe a plethora of abuse,
assault and neglect meted out on her
vulnerable children. Described by defence counsel Brendan
Kelly, as a woman of ‘impeccable character’,
it is expected she will be sentenced by Mr
Justice Horner next week. The now-grown children’s mother faces the
most charges, a total of 17 of cruelty and
neglect and 23, involving six of sexual
indecency. She pleaded guilty to four counts of gross
indecency where she forced her child to
watch as she had sex with her brother and ex-police officer Thomas Fitzpatrick. She also pleaded guilty to two counts of
indecency where she forced her son to
intimately touch her breasts. The case continues on Tuesday when
further pleas of mitigation on behalf of the
other defendants will be given to the court.