A 64-year-old farmer from County Tyrone has been given a two-year Probation Order after admitting a prolonged campaign of domestic abuse against his wife and daughter.

Edmund Smith, originally from Ballygawley and now living at Cloghfin Road, Sixmilecross, pleaded guilty to engaging in abusive behaviour causing his wife physical or psychological harm, falsely imprisoning his daughter, and cruelty to his daughter during her childhood. He was sentenced at Dungannon Crown Court.

Smith was arrested on 19 January 2023 after police received a third-party report expressing concern for the welfare of his wife and daughter.

His wife told police that Smith exercised rigorous and relentless control over household finances, requiring every purchase to be justified and accounted for. She received around £400 per month in Tax Credits and was expected to cover all food and household expenses. The only additional financial provision was a credit card which Smith insisted could only be used for vehicle fuel.

On one occasion when the credit card bill reached around £600, Smith became extremely angry, banging his fist on the kitchen worktop and telling her that she had cost him that much money and that something was going to be done. His wife was also prevented from visiting her parents. Although the controlling behaviour had continued for years, Smith could only be prosecuted for that aspect of the offending from 2022, following a change in the law.

The couple's daughter, now an adult, disclosed that Smith had physically abused her between approximately 2012 and 2020, regularly slapping her in what was deemed unreasonable chastisement. In an incident shortly before his arrest, Smith locked her inside a stable with a dangerous horse to prevent her from leaving, causing her extreme fear. She eventually escaped by climbing over a stable door.

Smith initially denied all the allegations and was refused bail, spending around two weeks in custody before being released under strict conditions. The case was transferred to Dungannon Crown Court, where a series of adjournments followed, some arising after Smith dismissed his original legal representatives.

The trial began on 21 September, when jurors were shown a video interview given by his daughter. When she was due to be cross-examined the following day, Smith changed his pleas to guilty.

Defence counsel said Smith had taken time to accept his offending, and that his recognition and remorse were reflected in his guilty pleas, which vindicated the victims. The defence disputed the terminology used to describe the kitchen incident, particularly the phrase about something going to be done, stating that it carried a potentially ominous meaning but was not reflected as such in the statement of evidence.

Judge Mark McGarrity commended the victims for ensuring Smith was brought to justice, noting they had been left with lasting physical and psychological impact. He said the defendant regretted his actions and the disastrous effect on his familial relationships, and that Smith was assessed as presenting a medium risk of reoffending. The judge said the case was aggravated by the prolonged nature of the abuse and cruelty, and that Smith did not admit guilt at the outset and a trial commenced at which his daughter was called as a witness although not subject to cross-examination.

The judge acknowledged that a custodial sentence could have been justified but said a balance had to be struck between punishment and deterrence and the public interest in rehabilitation.

Smith was made subject to a Restraining Order prohibiting contact with his wife and daughter for five years.