A man who made threats to kill his former partner and assaulted her in her home has been jailed for 16 months.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that the now 29-year-old, who cannot be identified in order to protect the identity of the injured party, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm, threats to kill and criminal damage at an address in Dublin on February 12th and 16th, 2021.
Passing sentence on Thursday, Judge Orla Crowe said, “These are deeply serious matters of violence towards an intimate partner in her own home and on one occasion, the offending lasted three hours”.
Judge Crowe said the couple had previously had domestic issues. She said the aggravating factors in this case were that on the first occasion, this was a prolonged incident with an intimate partner and that four days later, he again threatened her in her own home, caused criminal damage, and there was a child present.
The judge said the mitigating factors were his early guilty plea, his lack of previous convictions; his admissions, work history and willingness to work with the Probation Services.
Judge Crowe said that the custodial threshold had been crossed and sentenced the defendant to one year and ten months in prison. In order to encourage rehabilitation, she suspended the final six months for two years and placed him under the supervision of the Probation Services for one-year post-release.
At a previous hearing, the court heard that the defendant and the injured party had been in a volatile relationship for three years. At about 11pm on February 12th, 2021, the defendant hit the woman on the head and body and called her a “bitch” and a “w***e”. The man threatened to kill her and said he would “smash her head in”. The man left her home at 1am.
The court heard that four days later, on February 16th, the man returned to the home and pushed his way in. Once again, he called her a “w***e” and made threats to kill her. The defendant grabbed an iPhone from the woman and smashed it. The woman’s child was also present in the house at this time.
Victim impact statement
A victim impact statement was previously handed into the court, outlining her “sheer fear”, Judge Crowe noted. The woman changed her phone number and described being afraid when she saw a car like the defendant’s.
The man was arrested on April 1st, 2021. During his interview, he admitted that he had said things to the woman and been in her home. He accepted that he had assaulted her but not as the injured party had outlined. The man has now cut ties with the woman and moved to a different county.
A probation report was made available to the court, which outlined that the defendant “has distorted views on intimate partner violence” and stated that there is a moderate risk of him reoffending.
The defendant is a non-national and came to Ireland in 2014. He has no previous convictions.
Kitty Perle, BL, defending, told the court that on the last occasion, the court gave her client “a last chance”, and there was a probation report before the court on Thursday.
Ms Perle said: “It is not as positive as I would have wished for, but in the last paragraph, it does say that he would be suitable for a domestic violence programme."
Counsel said her client has moved away from the injured party and is now very much aware of the importance of engaging with the Probation Services.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact Women’s Aid (24-hour freephone helpline at 1800-341 900, email helpline@womensaid.ie) or Men’s Aid Ireland (confidential helpline at 01-554 3811, email hello@mensaid.ie) for support and information.
Safe Ireland also offers a number of local services and helplines at safeireland.ie/get-help/where-to-find-help/. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.
