A man has received a prison sentence of two years and nine months for three “reprehensible” attacks on his partner.
In one attack in April 2017, Evan Keogh (26) pulled the victim down the stairs, causing her to fall on her arm in pain and fear she had broken it.
In another attack in December 2017, he bent the young woman's ankle to the point of pain, while in the third attack in January 2018, he split the girl's lip and bit her finger drawing blood.
Keogh of Alpine Heights, Clondalkin, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to three counts of assault causing harm at various locations in the capital on dates between April 2017 and January 2018. The victim was aged in her 20s at the time.
'Tempestuous relationship'
Garda Sergeant Eamonn Whelan told Antonia Boyle BL, prosecuting, that Keogh and the victim were in an “on again off again” relationship since March 2014. She said on April 17th, 2017, they had separated when Keogh showed up at the woman's house.
When she told him she did not want him there, he began shouting at her “who are you going to get to ride you” and he threw her phone on the floor smashing it, the court heard.
The woman was sitting on the top of the stairs and Keogh pulled her foot and she fell onto the stairs, "whacking" her backside off the stairs and getting her arm stuck between her and the wall.
The court heard Keogh apologised after and offered to bring the victim to hospital. She later went to gardaí and Keogh was arrested, charged and released on bail pending prosecution.
He was out on bail the following December when he and the woman were together again. She told gardaí later that they were sitting in her home when she “made a smart comment” and Keogh flipped out.
He began bending her ankle back “trying to break it” and causing her to cry out in pain. She told gardaí that she walked with a limp for days after the attack and Keogh said he was not sorry because “she deserved it”.
On January 8th, 2018, Keogh again attacked the woman, this time backhanding her in the face causing her lip to bleed and swell. He also bit her baby finger at a point where she had broken it three years earlier.
Defending counsel told Judge Martin Nolan that this was a tempestuous relationship, but that his client takes full responsibility for his actions and is unequivocally remorseful.
Judge Nolan said these were pretty nasty and “reprehensible” assaults. He imposed a 15-month prison sentence for the first attack and a consecutive term of 18 months for the following assaults.
He backdated the sentence to March 2021 when Keogh went into custody for these offences.
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 outlines 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.
