Woman assaulted for six hours by ex-partner granted protection order

A young woman has told a court she was assaulted over six hours and held at knifepoint by her former partner.

The woman was granted a protection order on an ex parte (one side only represented) basis at Dublin District Family Court on Monday.

In a sworn statement to the court, the woman said she was in a one-year relationship with the man. She said two weeks ago the man “assaulted me and held me at knifepoint”. The woman said the assault went on for six hours.

She said she managed to get away and call the Garda, and the man was caught the following day. The woman said her injuries were so bad gardaí had “forensics come in to take pictures”.

She said this wasn’t the first time she had been assaulted by her former partner but that it was “the worst it has been”. The woman told the court the man remains in Garda custody.

Judge Gerard Furlong asked the woman why she wasn't applying for a barring order, given the seriousness of the sworn evidence. A barring order requires the violent person to leave the home and prohibits them from entering the home. It also prohibits the person from further violence or threats of violence, or watching or being near the applicant's home.

The woman said she wanted to keep her address secret from the man and therefore applied for a protection order, which prohibits him from using or threatening to use violence.

Full hearing

Judge Furlong granted the woman a protection order and set a full hearing, which the man is expected to attend, for a date in early 2020. Judge Furlong told the woman she could re-apply for a barring order at any time.

In another case before the court on Monday, a woman described how her husband grabbed her by the neck and was strangling her during a prolonged period of abuse.

In a sworn statement to the court, the woman said she woke up to her husband shouting and stomping around downstairs. The woman said she went down to the kitchen and her husband began shouting at her about not making him dinners.

She said her husband called her a “freeloader” and was “in my face”. The woman told her husband she already had a safety order against him and would call the gardaí.

In a separate case, a woman was granted an extended interim barring order against her son

The woman said her husband was poking and jabbing her while she was eating her breakfast. She said her husband pushed her into the hall and “grabbed me around my neck”.

“He was shaking me while strangling me,” the woman said. She said he then pushed her into the sofa in their sitting room and eventually left. The woman said her husband said to her before he left: “why don’t I fall down the stairs and die?”

The woman was granted an interim barring order previously this month and said she hadn’t seen or spoken to her husband since then. The man did not turn up for the hearing.

Attempted strangulation

Judge Furlong said any assault with attempted strangulation is “extremely serious” and granted the woman a three-year barring order. “He is not to return to the family home,” Judge Furlong said.

In a separate case, a woman was granted an extended interim barring order against her son.

The woman said her son’s children lived in her home and he came around to her house trying to stay there also. She said her son was very aggressive and brought other drug users to her home and that she was frightened and intimidated.

The woman said her son owed money and drug dealers were now coming to her home looking for the money. “I am in fear for all of our safety,” the woman said, referencing her grandchildren who also lived with her.

The woman’s son was currently in Garda custody and did not attend the hearing. Judge Furlong extended an interim barring order previously given to the woman and said he would write to the prison service to ensure the woman’s son was in court for the next hearing.

Emergency applications will continue to be heard at Dublin District Family Court at Dolphin House on Christmas Eve, and the court will reopen again on Friday.