Man jailed for “frenzied” attack on former partner

By David O’Sullivan and Eimear Dodd

A Dublin man has been jailed for a “frenzied outburst” during which he assaulted his former partner.

The 36-year-old, who cannot be named to protect the anonymity of his victim, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to counts of criminal damage, endangerment, assault and trespass on January 5, 2021.

The man has 79 previous convictions.

He was previously convicted of assault causing harm and two counts of criminal damage and was handed three-year prison sentence, with a final six months suspended.

He has an earliest release date of March 2025.

The court heard that the injured party in that case is also the victim in this case.

The man was on bail for those offences at the time of this offending.

Imposing sentence today, Judge James O’Donohue said this was a “very bad assault” which had a considerable effect on the victim, leaving her “fearful” and “traumatised”.

He noted the aggravating factors include that the man was on bail at the time and was in an intimate relationship with the victim.

The judge said the mitigation includes the man’s expressions of remorse, his background and the contents of a psychological report.

Judge O’Donohue imposed a sentence of one year and six months on the count of endangerment, to run consecutively to the sentence he is currently serving.

He noted that the man has already served six months in relation to this case and directed that the accused is given credit for this.

The remaining charges are to be taken into consideration.

He also ordered the man to attend counselling while in custody and for a further six months upon his release.

An investigating garda gave evidence at a previous hearing that the victim was running an errand at a local supermarket with the man on the day in question.

At some point, the victim abandoned her shopping and returned to the car. The man followed her and got into the passenger side.

The garda said: “There was a verbal argument, and I think it got heated.”

While inside the car, the man punched the visor and windshield, causing €1,676 worth of damage.

The woman asked him to leave, but he refused. The court heard the woman said she would drive him to a local garda station if he didn’t get out of the vehicle.

While the woman was driving, the man pulled the car’s steering wheel.

This pulled the car across several driving lanes.

The victim told gardai that her “legs and arms went to jelly at that point.”

She again told him to leave the car.

Paramedics driving by observed the car which was then stationary, but blocking two lanes.

They approached and the victim told them that the man had pulled the steering wheel, causing her to lose control of the car.

The paramedics called the gardai, at which point the man left.

Evidence was given that when the victim got home, she locked all the doors and windows.

She texted the man not to come.

However, later that night he jumped over the back wall of the house, then pulled the door open.

The garda told Tessa White BL, prosecuting, that the man grabbed the woman by the side of the face and pushed her to the ground.

The woman’s child came into the room and screamed.

The court heard that the man called her “a slut”, “a manipulative bitch” and “the worst mother in the world”.

The man told the victim it was her fault that the incident happened, because she had changed the password to her phone which made him paranoid.

The court heard the man left the house but then came back in tears and said he had nowhere else to go.

No medical evidence in relation to the victim was provided to the court.

At a later date, gardai told the injured party to arrange to meet the man at a cafe.

However, gardai arrived instead and arrested the man.

In a victim impact statement read out by Ms White, the injured party described the consequences of that day. She said. “I don’t trust men, aside from my family” and that “I wake up at night panicking that someone is in the house.”

The victim said she suffers from PTSD and flashbacks that cause her to go into panic attacks.

She continued: “in the days that followed, I could only think: what if he killed us both?”

The woman said “my house stopped feeling like my home” and that “our safe space became a danger zone.”

Morgan Shelley BL, defending, said the man was taken to prison “with the attitude of someone who will do everything he can do to reform himself.”

He described him as “someone who has grasped every possible educational opportunity” while in custody.

He said he has attended classes on anger management, alternatives to violence and managing strong emotions.

The man is on an enhanced prisoner regime while in custody.

A psychological report and a letter of apology were also handed to the court.