A Hungarian man has been jailed for four and-a-half years and ordered to leave Ireland upon his release from prison never to return after he stabbed his wife five times in the back on Christmas Day in 2021.

Laszlo Nemeth, who previously had an address in Cork, appeared before Cork Circuit Criminal Court in connection with the incident which occurred in Glen North, Banteer, Co Cork.

During the course of the attack the former soldier and qualified pilot chased his son around the garden with an axe and assaulted him. He also threatened to kill his wife, son and his son's partner, Klaudia Borz.

Judge James McCourt heard that Nemeth was estranged from his wife when the offence occurred. They have since divorced. The couple got married in 1990.

Det Garda Padraig Reddington said that Nemeth had been violent towards his wife on eight to nine occasions during their marriage.

He said that Nemeth was "obsessive" about his wife and levelled accusations about infidelity in her direction. Mrs Nemeth had left her husband after he threatened to run her over in a car.

The former couple agreed to meet in person at 11.30am on Christmas Day at the home of their son to discuss the final part of their separation. Det Garda Reddington said that the conversation was "civil" initially. However, at about 4pm Nemeth began to become argumentative.

A decision was made that Eva, her son and his partner would leave on the pretense of walking their dogs. Dt Garda Reddington said the dogs were being loaded into a van when mayhem broke out.

"He (Lazlo) approached Eva and took out a fish knife and stabbed her four times in the back. She threw her arms out to defend herself and he stabbed her a fifth time."

When Erik went to defend his mother, Nemeth swung the knife and cut the fingers of his son. He then picked up an axe and swung it at Erik. The incident of the raising of the axe and the pursuit of his son was captured on CCTV.

He threatened to kill all present at the scene. He then proceeded to self-harm. He fled the scene on foot and was arrested two hours later at a forestry complex.

The court heard that Eva sustained a collapsed right lung and multiple stab wounds. She was released from hospital after five days.

Erik required stitches to his hands for cuts he sustained in the incident. Nemeth also needed hospitalisation for injuries he had caused to himself.

Judge McCourt was told that alcohol had not been consumed by any of the parties on the day.

In her victim impact statement, Eva Nemeth said that she is still "frightened" by the threats her former husband made to her.

"I have constant returning thought that he will keep his word and finish what he started once he is out of prison. I have returning nightmares that he is released from prison and he either tries to kill me or my son."

Eva said that she has been unable to work since the attack and suffers from chronic back and neck pain, and is unable to step on to the street with any peace of mind.

She added that Nemeth had "spread lies" to "discredit her". She is "paranoid" at home at night or when she is alone.

Her son Erik also had had a victim impact statement read into evidence. He said that he lost 7kg arising out of the stress of the incident.

"I often wake up at night or in the morning with a racing heart after such dreams that he is trying to slam me with an axe or cut me with a knife."

Defence barrister Ray Boland, SC, said that his client is without previous convictions in Ireland or Hungary. He said he had entered his guilty plea at the earliest possible opportunity and had been in custody since January 2021 arising out of his actions.

He said that Mr Nemeth was a "hardworking" man who was remorseful and had apologised for his actions.

Judge McCourt said that threats to kill in the case "were real and must have been terrifying".

He stated that he was prepared to suspend the final six months of a five-year prison sentence once Nemeth agreed to leave the jurisdiction for his native country within 72 hours of his release from prison.

Nemeth was also ordered to have "no contact, direct or indirect" with the injured parties. He was warned to stay out Ireland on a permanent basis and "not to return for any reason".

The sentence was backdated to 6 January, 2022 when he first entered custody.

Nemeth had pleaded guilty to two counts of assault causing harm, two counts of producing weapons and one count of threatening to kill his wife, son and his son’s partner.