Woman blinded by ex-husband

A WOMAN who lost her sight in one eye during an abusive seven-year marriage was totally blinded after she was punched in the other eye by her former husband, a court heard.

Divorcee Ann Fitzgerald awoke the next morning and thought the bulb in her bedside lamp had fused until she switched on the sitting room light and her world remained black.

She rang her former husband who had followed her to Bexhill and moved in opposite her flat in Kingscott Close, Sidley and said; "Shaun, I am blind."

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She said a hospital examination revealed the retina had been pushed into her eyeball, caused - her ex-husband claimed - by her falling over the coffee table. At Lewes Crown Court, Shaun Fitzgerald, 54, pleaded not guilty to wounding but on the second day of the hearing changed his plea.

He asked the judge if he could speak with this former wife and then admitted the charge.

"He said he didn't want his barrister questioning and upsetting me anymore and that he was going to plead guilty," said Ann. He was jailed for a total of six years, two of them for intimidating witnesses.

The couple had been out drinking together but when they returned to Mrs Fitzgerald's flat, an argument developed and she was punched in the face.

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Officer in charge of the investigation was DC Mark Smith. He said: "Any admission of guilt is a good result from the point of view of the victim and the point of view of the police because often victims need closure, an apology and an admission of guilt to move on."

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