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Laszlo Nemeth: five stab wounds, an axe chase and an undertaking to leave

The Hungarian former soldier stabbed his estranged wife four times in the back and once in the chest, cut his son with the knife, chased him with an axe and threatened to kill all three people present. He received five years with the final six months suspended after undertaking to leave Ireland within 72 hours of release and not return.

Published 26 July 2026 · Remigration Ireland case ledger
5 woundsFour in back, one in chest
3 peopleThreatened with death
5 countsFinal guilty pleas reported
4.5 yearsActive custodial term

Christmas Day at a rural Cork home became a scene of blood, threats and terror. Eva Nemeth suffered a collapsed lung after her estranged husband stabbed her five times. Their son was cut while trying to protect her and then pursued through the garden by his father wielding a long-handled axe. The son’s partner tried to stop Eva’s bleeding while Laszlo Nemeth threatened to kill them all.

A separation preceded the attack

Laszlo and Eva Nemeth married in 1990. Detective Garda Padraig Reddington told Cork Circuit Criminal Court that Nemeth had been violent towards his wife eight or nine times during the marriage. That was evidence given as background at sentencing; it was not a list of eight or nine prior convictions.

The couple separated in November 2021. Eva moved out and did not reveal her Irish address to Nemeth while he was back in Hungary. The court heard that he repeatedly accused her of affairs and had threatened to run her over with a vehicle.

They agreed to meet at the Glen North, Banteer home of their son—rendered as Erik in most reports and Eric in The Irish Times—on Christmas Day to discuss their separation. His partner, Klaudia Borz, was also present. None of the parties had consumed alcohol or was under the influence of an intoxicant.

Four stabs in the back, one in the chest

The gathering began civilly. By about 4pm Nemeth had become argumentative. Eva, her son and Klaudia used taking the dogs for a walk as a pretext to leave and defuse the situation.

As Eva emerged wearing her coat and carrying a small rucksack, Nemeth approached with a fishing knife. He stabbed her four times in the back. When she turned and raised her arms to defend herself, he stabbed her once in the chest.

One wound collapsed Eva’s right lung. She was released from hospital five days later but told the court that she continued to suffer back and neck pain. Her victim impact evidence described anxiety, nightmares and fear that Nemeth would one day finish what he had started.

A knife, an axe and threats to kill

When his son intervened to protect Eva, Nemeth swung the knife and cut his fingers. He then picked up a long-handled axe, swung it at him and chased him through the garden. CCTV recorded the raised axe and pursuit.

Klaudia tried to protect Eva and used clothing to staunch the bleeding. She later said that the sight of Eva on the ground, bloodied and fearing she would die, continued to haunt her.

Nemeth threatened to kill his wife, son and Klaudia. He fled on foot before emergency services arrived. A Garda search found him about two hours later in woodland or a forestry complex with self-inflicted injuries. He remained in hospital until 5 January 2022 and was arrested after discharge.

The charge that was not pursued

The case had been listed for trial with a charge of assault causing serious harm to Eva under section 4 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997. The Director of Public Prosecutions agreed not to proceed with that count and accepted a guilty plea to the lesser section 3 offence of assault causing harm.

The distinction is legally important. Nemeth was not convicted of assault causing serious harm or attempted murder. The final reports describe guilty pleas to two counts of assault causing harm, two counts of producing weapons and one count of threatening to kill his wife, son and son’s partner.

The physical injuries and death threats remain grave, but this file uses the offences that were actually accepted and sentenced.

Five years, with six months suspended

On 22 November 2023, Judge James McCourt imposed a five-year prison sentence and suspended the final six months. The active custodial component was therefore four and a half years. The sentence was backdated to 6 January 2022, when Nemeth entered custody.

The judge treated the guilty plea, remorse, cooperation, age and previous good record as mitigation. Nemeth had no previous convictions in Ireland or Hungary. The judge also acknowledged the added difficulty of imprisonment for a Hungarian national with little English, while describing the offences as a fundamental breach of trust and the threats as real and terrifying.

An undertaking to leave—not a deportation order

The Irish Times reported that Nemeth gave an undertaking to leave Ireland within 72 hours of release as part of the terms on which the final six months were suspended. Other final court reports say the judge ordered or directed him to return to Hungary, remain permanently outside Ireland and have no direct or indirect contact with the injured parties.

The precise and supportable description is that a personal undertaking to leave was incorporated into the suspended-sentence terms. No located report identifies a deportation order, formal immigration exclusion order or immigration offence. Hungary is an EU member state, and nationality alone does not establish unlawful residence.

No reliable report located for this file confirms that Nemeth has since been released, left Ireland, been removed by the State or breached the condition. The intended departure and non-return terms are documented; their later execution is not.

Case chronology

A conditional prison-space illustration

The Irish Prison Service reported a 2024 average cost of €99,072 per available staffed prison space, excluding capital expenditure. Applying that rate mechanically to the four-and-a-half-year active custodial term produces a conditional full-term illustration of €445,824.

That is not Nemeth’s audited bill or proof of time actually served. The sentence was backdated; remission and release timing are not established here; annual prison costs change; and an average available-space rate is not marginal expenditure attributable to one prisoner. The suspended six months are not priced as custody.

The illustration also excludes the Garda search, ambulance and emergency response, hospital treatment, investigation, prosecution, courts, legal aid, victim healthcare and support, and any later supervision or enforcement of the suspended conditions. No complete public-cost total was located.

What the record establishes

A Hungarian national with no prior convictions committed a sustained armed attack against members of his own family. The court heard of older violence during the marriage, but those incidents were not presented as prior convictions. His final adjudicated record is the five guilty pleas and four-and-a-half-year active term described above.

Exact-name searches located no reported appeal outcome, departure confirmation or later enforcement proceeding through 26 July 2026. Absence of a report does not prove that no appeal or later action occurred.

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