MS MICHELLE ROCCA broke down in tears in the witness box in the High Court yesterday when she told the court that an apology from her former partner, Mr Cathal Ryan, would have gone a long way.
Ms Rocca said she never believed that they would have both ended up in court. An apology would have gone a long way, she said, for the sake of her daughter, Claudia.
"I know he did it," she claimed.
Questioned by Mr Nicholas Kearns SC, her counsel, as to whether she still suffered from her injuries, she replied that while the bruises had healed she still suffered psychologically.
"There are days when I get very low. I get depression, but I get over it."
She said she could not stand talking with Mr Michael O'Leary, a director of Ryanair, about entering into an agreement with Mr Ryan regarding the welfare and his access to the child.
Crying, she told the court that she should have asked Mr O'Leary for psychological reports. "I just did not want any more shit in my life at this stage."
When questioned about the agreement, including a clause that nothing would be published about her relationship with Mr Ryan, Ms Rocca said she did not bring the agreement into court.
Ms Rocca said she had never made any claim for support from Mr Ryan. She just wanted her daughter to be looked after. He never offered to support her (Ms Rocca).
She said a payment of £6,000 had nothing to do with the alleged assault. "I would probably put a higher price on myself." She said the payment, which included £1,000 maintenance for her daughter, was to clear money owed on her credit cards and a bank overdraft.
Since the assault Mr Ryan had never tried to make it up to her in any way. "No, he never apologised," said Ms Rocca. She believed an apology would have gone a long way for the sake of her daughter.
Ms Rocca confirmed that photographs of her were taken two days after the assault.
She said she could not believe she and her former partner would end up in court. "I never thought it would go that far," she said.
Ms Rocca said she still suffered psychologically from the assault. "Every time I look at my daughter I have to realise that her father is a woman beater."
When she went back to work after the assault she told everyone that she was in a car accident because she wanted to protect her daughter. "For a while I felt like a victim. I thought I deserved it," she said.
Ms Rocca said she had heard rumours that a woman was to take legal proceedings against her. She denied, however, ever receiving a letter from the woman's solicitor alleging that she (Ms Rocca) had assaulted her.
Cross examined by Mr Garrett Cooney SC, for Mr Ryan, Ms Rocca said she stayed in Blackhall Stud until the afternoon of the day after the alleged assault. She said Ms June Moloney, a friend, was not very supportive of her after the incident.
She believed Ms Moloney would have preferred if she was not there because the incident had been so ugly. Her husband was very upset and was giving Ms Moloney a hard time because the house was owned by Arabs.
Ms Rocca said she and Ms Moloney had been close and that she had visited the house on a number of occasions with her children. She had talked about her relationship with Mr Ryan. Ms Moloney was in an awkward position and because she was friends with Mr Ryan as well, she did not trust her totally.
Mr Cooney said that Ms Moloney's evidence about the alleged assault differed radically from the evidence she (Ms Rocca) had given. Ms Moloney had not invited Mr Ryan and herself as a pair, but had invited Mr Ryan and Ms Sarah Lindon to her birthday party because they had been going out for some months before the party. Ms Rocca said that was untrue. Her impression was that she and Mr Ryan had been invited as a couple.
Mr Cooney said Ms Moloney had warned her not to cause any trouble when they were at the party. Ms Rocca said she did not remember Ms Moloney saying that to her. "I don't know why she would want to say it to me."
Mr Cooney said there was a Mr David Marshall in another bed in the room where the alleged assault took place, who had a first hand view of everything that happened.
Ms Rocca said that Mr Marshall was drunk and had passed out on the bed.
Mr Cooney said Mr Marshall had described what happened in the room, and it was quite a different account from hers. Mr Marshall alleged that she burst into the room in a rage and was mouthing obscenities and that she called Ms Lindon "a f**ing bitch".
Ms Rocca said she could not say she did not shout and scream. She could not remember if she called Ms Lindon "a f***ing bitch". It might have been stronger than hitch.
Mr Cooney said Mr Marshall claimed she attacked Ms Lindon on the bed and dragged her by the hair off the bed on to the floor.
Ms Rocca: "He is absolutely wrong."