Man who twice assaulted his wife is jailed

By Sonya McLean

A man who twice assaulted his wife has been jailed for nine months after a court heard that she required surgery to a finger following one of the attacks.

Aidan Horan (39) of Church Road, East Wall, in Dublin, had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to assaulting the now 31-year-old woman on January 1, 2019 and February 22, 2019. He was convicted following a trial.

The court heard that the couple got married in 2018 and the relationship had “its ups and downs”.

The first assault followed a night out in Dublin city celebrating New Years Eve after Horan became concerned with the contact his wife had with different people and became “jealous and angry”.

A prosecuting garda told Sean Gillane SC, prosecuting that Horan struck the woman a number of blows to her head and face.

She later ran from the house and sought help from people she had been childminding for. The gardaí were called and photographs were taken of her injuries.

Horan later moved out of that property and some time later the couple got back together.

In February 2019 another argument broke out during which the woman was struck a number of times by Horan.

Her finger was also held back until it cracked. She later required surgery on her finger after it was discovered it had been hyper-extended.

Mr Gillane said Horan was ultimately interviewed in December 2019 during which claimed he had been defending himself and claimed that his wife had been the aggressor.

The garda confirmed that Horan has no previous convictions.

A victim impact statement was handed into court during which the woman said that Horan’s treatment of her in this way “destroyed her confidence”. She said she thought she would never get away from the situation.

“I fear that I still cannot love myself as I had done before my relationship. Nobody has a right to take their happiness and he has taken that from me,” she continued.

She said she worried she would never use her hand again. She expressed gratitude for those people that had supported her “through this hard time”.

Conor Devally SC defending said his client had €4,500 in court to offer as a token of his remorse but the woman is not willing to accept this.

He said Horan has otherwise “led a very productive and blameless life”.

Counsel described the relationship as “tempestuous with very many highs and lows”.

Mr Justice Paul Burns said this had been an assault in the marital home in the context of domestic violence.

He noted that the Domestic Violence Act acknowledges the significantly greater impact an assault in the context of domestic violence has on a person rather than assault by a stranger, as the victim’s ability to escape from the violence is curtailed.

Mr Justice Burns noted that there were claims during the trial and the sentence hearing that the physical violence in the relationship was not all one way, but he commented “the accused has been convicted of assault but his wife has not”.

“This was a tempestuous relationship from the start but there is no excuse for violence,” Mr Justice Burns said before he imposed a 12-month sentence.

He suspended the final three months of the sentence on strict conditions including that Horan engage with the Probation Service for three months upon his ultimate release from prison.