A Cork man has been jailed for eight years for an assault on his wife that left her permanently disabled.

Anthony Kelleher from Curraheen, Raleigh North, Macroom had denied throwing his wife Siobhan down the stairs at their home in June 2014.

A jury had found him unanimously guilty of the charge last February and he was remanded in custody for sentence today.

Ms Kelleher later suffered a stroke as a result of the assault.

Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard she now has to walk with the aid of a stick and can no longer drive.

Judge Sean O'Donnabháin said Mr Kelleher had torn his wife by the hair from her bed, kicked and punched her before throwing her down the stairs where she suffered number of injuries including a life threatening laceration to her liver.

He noted that Kelleher continued to maintain his innocence and insisted that his wife’s injuries were sustained in an accidental fall after she had consumed some alcohol at their house.

He  noted that Ms Kelleher had refused to give evidence in the case against her husband  but there was medical evidence that supported statements she made to Gardaí stating he assaulted her.