Assault case camogie star gets ‘dream' prison officer job after almost being jailed herself
A GAA All-Star has achieved her life-long dream of enrolling as a prison officer recruit – six years after her goal was almost shattered by a court case in which she pleaded guilty to two counts of assault.
Seven times All-Ireland-winning inter-county camogie star Ashling Thompson took up duties as a recruit prison officer earlier this month – just a month after she openly discussed the case on a podcast in which she described the incident as the second time in her life she had hit 'rock bottom.'
Sources said, as Thompson (35) was allowed escape a conviction for the assaults on condition she paid €6,000 to her victims and to charity, this meant she avoided a conviction and was able to pass the Irish Prison Service's stringent Garda vetting and security clearance checks.
Speaking on the 'The Comeback' podcast with Brenda Dennehy last May, Thompson said her goal had always been to gain employment in justice system.
Ashling won four All-Irelands with Cork
'I went to college and I first wanted to do something in sport but then I went away from that and armed response and the guards was the next thing.
'I don't think armed response was a thing at the time but it was always the Guards or something around special forces, a prison officer. It was always around that kind of work that I really wanted to do.
'So I ended up going to the college and doing an entrance course for the Guards and then unfortunately around that time I had a serious enough car accident.'
The accident Thompson spoke of occurred when she was 22 years of age.
During the podcast, Thompson spoke openly of her mental health difficulties, issues with substance abuse, her experience of coercive control, the suicide of a boyfriend and of how sport and camogie helped get her through her difficulties.
She clocked up numerous honours, including four All-Irelands with Cork, three club All-Irelands with Milford, and two All Stars, and became an advocate for mental health.
However, in February 2018, Thompson assaulted two women in a pub, an incident she described as her 'second rock bottom.'
The incidents at the Secret Garden, Rearden's, Washington Street, Cork occurred after a day when the 29-year-old left her home in Charleville, County Cork, at 8am played a match in Offaly, returned to Cork and drank alcohol that night without having had food during the day.
Thompson entered pleas of guilty to charges of assaulting Aoife O'Flaherty and Jennifer Coakley on February 25, 2018, at Secret Garden, Rearden's, Washington Street, Cork.
All-Star Ashling Thompson
Imposing sentence, Judge Con O'Leary said
he would allow Thompson avoid a criminal on her undertaking to pay €6,000 to family refuge charities and to cover witness expenses.
Speaking of the assaults and court case, she told 'The Comeback' podcast: 'I was up in court in an assault case … It was after a game … there was a lot of drink involved...Luckily, I wasn't convicted or anything … It was definitely a rock bottom for me. My understanding now of why I lost control is going back to that previous time with the car crash and the boyfriend and … those moments in my life.
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