Suspended sentence for man who subjected his wife to coercive control

By Claire Henry

A man who restricted his wife’s food and limited the heating in their home has been given a suspended sentence for coercive control and assaulting the woman.

The Central Circuit Criminal Court heard that the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to one count of assault causing harm on or about January 27, 2020, at their Dublin home.

He also pleaded guilty to one count of coercive control. The court was told that the maximum sentence available is five years on each of the two counts. The man has no previous convictions in Ireland or any other jurisdiction.

Detective Sergeant Stephen McDonald told Shane Costelloe SC, prosecuting, that a jury was empanelled earlier this year and a trial began. After the opening speeches, the defence team handed over a “tranche” of material that had been downloaded and translated for the defence team.

This material included voice notes and messages. The man agreed to enter pleas to the two charges and this was accepted by the victim.

The court heard that the couple had an arranged marriage in 2019. The woman gave up her high-level job and moved to Ireland where her husband had lived for most of his life. The woman felt isolated from her extended family and did not have any friends in Ireland.

The man travelled for work and would be away for long periods of time. The woman would stay with his brother and mother while he was away.

Their marriage became fraught, as well as the relationship with her in-laws. A security system was in place in the home with cameras placed both externally and internally. These cameras fed back to an app on the man’s phone.

The court heard that the charge of coercive control was a result of the woman being left isolated in the house and being told that she should remain inside. She felt that her husband was micromanaging her daily activities.

Her daily food intake was restricted along with the heating in the house. The woman assumed that the security system was monitoring all her movements and that he would be notified via the app on his phone. She relayed this to him, and he did nothing to disabuse her of this fact.

The woman began to feel physically and mentally unwell and had a feeling of anxiety. She believed he was using this to control her. She also had no financial independence.

On or about January 27, 2020, there was a verbal altercation between the then-couple, which resulted in the man grabbing the woman by the arm and twisting it behind her back, resulting in pain, swelling and bruising.

The woman read her victim impact statement to the court, which said, “I lived life in colour.

I had a lot of friends. I was a very happy person. I was loved by everyone in my family.

“I never had tears in my eyes, people know me because of my smile – my smile was part of my personality.”

“When I was 27, I got married to this person. I can’t even say his name.” She said she can still dfeel the pain of what he has done and that he destroyed the “smiley girl” she used to be.

“No one would ever recognise me as the girl I was in (her native country), he destroyed her, and I miss myself,” she said, adding: “I will never forgive him.”

Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo said the man had restricted his wife’s food and heating and allowed her to believe she was under surveillance over a period of about six weeks. He accepted that the assault was not pre-meditated.

The judge set a headline sentence of nine months for the assault and a headline concurrent sentence of 18 months for the coercive control. He said comparing this case to other similar cases, this case was “on the lower part of the spectrum”.

Mr Justice Naidoo said he was considering the plea of guilty entered in “very unusual circumstances” as being a plea that must be treated as “being of real value”.

He further acknowledged that the man has no previous convictions, has had not come to garda attention since and that there were testimonials before the court which described him as a man who can be trusted and who has previously supported his family and his community.

Mr Justice Naidoo said a report before the court concluded that the man has shown remorse for his conduct towards his former wife and now is more emotionally mature than he previously had been.

He accepted that based on this report and the testimonials before the court, the man’s behaviour was “out of character and his remorse is genuine”.

Mr Justice Naidoo imposed a sentence of six months for the assault and a concurrent term of 12 months for the coercive control before he suspended the 12-month term in full on strict conditions for two years. The man must engage with the Probation Service for those two years.