Judge praises woman who survived abusive relationship at hands of alcoholic partner

By Declan Brennan

A chronic alcoholic who subjected his then partner to 18 months of a controlling, abusive and violent relationship has been jailed for two years.

Dubliner Conor Wallace (34) subjected the woman to “a calculated, manipulative and persistent campaign of coercive control over a protracted period of time”, which included the Covid-19 lockdown period, Judge Orla Crowe said yesterday/on Thursday.

The court heard that after the relationship ended in December 2022, Wallace continued to harass her. He sent her hundreds of emails, thousands of texts and calls and left things outside her home.

On December 4, 2023, he threw a bottle through a living room window of her home, smashing it. Garda investigators linked DNA found on the bottle to Wallace and arrested him.

Wallace, formerly of Lakelands Close, Stillorgan and Pearse Street, Dublin, pleaded guilty to coercive control between May 2021 and December 2022. Separate charges of criminal damage and harassment were taken into consideration in sentencing.

The court heard that in 2019, the victim had moved to Ireland from another country to undertake important academic research and met Wallace while out in town.

He took her number and contacted her some time later, telling her he’d subsequently had a heart attack, that he was a musician and that he was only in Ireland for work. He told her he had no family and he needed somebody to look after him.

These were all lies, and his mother lived in the city at the time. Wallace also lied about having been previously abused, about a relative killing themselves and later about developing pancreatic cancer.

Wallace manipulated the victim into giving him money for his supposed medical bills. The woman ended up giving Wallace tens of thousands of euro, most of which he spent on drink, the court heard.

He was physically violent to her on various occasions throughout the relationship. She suffered black eyes from punches, bruises to her neck from choking and bruises to her body from Wallace kicking her. She also suffered two deep gashes to her nose, which have left a slight scar.

The defendant isolated her from other people and was even violent towards her father at one point, the court heard.

After his arrest, Wallace made admissions. He told gardai he was remorseful and was aware of the impact his actions would have had.

Judge Crowe said the victim, who was present in court with supporters, had demonstrated an extraordinary level of kindness. She said Wallace showed an utter lack of empathy or care for the woman and demonstrated a level of cruelty.

In her statement, the woman said that she had cared for someone for a year and a half who was “a complete fraud”. She said Wallace had a catastrophic effect on her, and everything he did was intended to manipulate and harm her.

She said that he left her psychologically damaged and in a “state of fear”.

Judge Crowe said this was a case of systematic deception where Wallace took advantage of the fact that the woman had not yet established the roots and connections she has since developed by staying here. She said that, in giving her statement to the court, the woman spoke without bitterness and “is a survivor”.

Justin McQuade BL, defending, said his client was a chronic alcoholic who had made various attempts at rehabilitation.

Judge Crowe noted that there were a number of references for Wallace from people who described him as kind. She said he came from a pro-social background and had the support of his mother so long as he remained sober.

She said that a Probation Service assessment said there was a continued risk of intimate partner violence and that Wallace tended to attribute his actions to alcohol use.

Noting the maximum penalty of five years’ prison, she set a headline sentence of four years. She reduced this to three years to take account of mitigating factors, including the lack of other offending, the guilty plea and his attempts to deal with his alcoholism.

She suspended the final year for two years on condition that he keep the peace and that he engage with the Probation Service. The conditions include that he disclose to the Probation Service any future intimate partner relationships and that he have no contact by any means with the injured party.