A woman has been granted a barring order against her partner after the Dublin District Family Court was told he hit her with his vehicle a week before Christmas.
The woman told Judge Gerard Furlong that earlier this year after hacking her email and finding out she had been having an affair, her partner chased her around the house, punching and hitting her. She ended up in hospital with severe bruising. But though she sat outside the District Court office "for hours", she did not go in to apply for a domestic violence order.
“It’s only when he’s angry I’m afraid of him,” she said.
The following month, she said, he was angry again. They were in their kitchen with its “granite counter top and island” when he picked her up “to the height of the cups” and threw her across the floor.
As she lay on the ground, he punched her in the back and she bit him on the ankle. On that occasion she went to court and obtained a safety order, which required her partner not to use violence or threaten to use violence against her.
Barring order
Then, in the week before Christmas, she said they had a row and she followed him out of the house. He got into his car and reversed out of the drive. She wanted him to stop and banged on the side of the bonnet. She thought he was going to roll down the window to speak to her.
“He looked at me and smiled and then he hit me with the Jeep,” she said. He then drove away. Gardaí advised her to get a barring order, to have him removed from the house. She was granted an interim barring order for a week, pending yesterday’s full hearing.
Her partner told Judge Furlong after he found out about the infidelity he was angry and confronted her. He said she head-butted him and he tried to restrain her.
“She did receive injuries unfortunately, but that was me defending myself,” he said. He denied there was any physical violence on the second occasion.
He also said during the incident before Christmas she smashed a plate of pasta on the floor. He decided to leave and she tried to open his car door. When she could not, she banged on the door and bonnet.
“I don’t think I hit her, but I can’t be sure; I may have brushed off her, but it was definitely unintentional,” he said.
Kidnap threat
Having looked at photographs of the woman’s bruising inflicted during the first two incidences, Judge Furlong told the man he did not accept his version of events. He granted a one-year barring order.
In a separate case, the judge granted a woman a safety order against her estranged husband until mid-January followed by a barring order for two years.
He had left Ireland earlier this year following an incidence of domestic violence when his wife said he tried to strangle her. He returned to Ireland just before Christmas and called his wife after midnight. He said he was outside their apartment and if she did not let him in he would kick the door down. He also threatened to kidnap their daughter and told the woman’s mother he had come back to Ireland to die and he would take his wife and her family with him.
Taking the stand, the man said he did ring his wife during the night and she was verbally abusive to him. He agreed he had made threats, but said he would not have acted on them. He was angry because his wife had treated him “like shit” and he had nowhere to stay. Judge Furlong said the woman could stay with her mother until January 11th and gave a safety order to protect her. After that, the man was to leave the family home and a barring order would take effect.
