A woman whose partner came to her home with a hammer and assaulted her in front of her five-year-old daughter has been granted a protection order at a Dublin court.
The woman gave evidence at ex parte sittings in Dolphin House on Friday that her partner became irate after she booked flights for herself and her daughter to go abroad.
She said the man came to her house with a hammer.
He then pulled her hair and punched her head, saying afterwards, “I didn’t batter you.” The woman said he told her he was “going to show me how he’d batter someone ... he said he’d ‘go to the lowest of the low’ ... He called me a s*ut and started punching me around the head.”
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She gave evidence that the man became angry after seeing messages on her phone from her daughter’s father. He dragged her into the sittingroom and bent her phone in half, and still has it, she told Judge Furlong.
The judge said he could not issue a barring order because they had never lived together, but he could grant her a protection order.
“There is a gap in the law that doesn’t allow us to give you a barring order, but this is as effective,” said the judge.
“I’m going to give you a protection order. This will protect you everywhere,” he added. The woman indicated she is taking assault charges against the man.
Another woman came to court saying she wanted to protect herself and her children from her husband after he assaulted her teenage daughter.
She said her daughter was doing her homework and told her autistic brother to turn down the television. When her brother did not do so, the teenager commented, “he doesn’t understand anything”. The woman said her husband then started to beat their daughter.
The woman said her husband did not physically assault her but often insulted her and had called her “a b***h” and “useless”. “It’s getting worse and worse,” she said, and asked the judge for a safety order.
The judge said he was granting the safety order and that the case would be listed for December, when she could then apply for a barring order of up to three years’ duration or a safety order for up to five years.
A different woman came to court claiming she caught her husband with another woman in their home. The man had left the home in February. He bought their home while they were married but it was in the husband’s name only.
He recently informed her he wanted to stay in the family home. He attempted to enter the front door, which was locked, and went around the back of the house and scaled the wall. The woman said she quickly packed a bag and went to a hotel. She said her husband had been prone to bouts of verbal and physical abuse to both herself and her daughter.
The judge said he was giving the woman an emergency safety order, saying the man is not to use or threaten violence. The judge told her he was very sorry about the affair with the other woman, but added that it was not relevant in these proceedings. “You’re both entitled to be in the family home,” said the judge.
Another man who was in an intimate relationship with a woman for two weeks but had split up a month ago came to court seeking a protection order.
He said the woman, who had a court order against him, had contacted him on three occasions, which he said were “deliberate provocations designed to lead to my arrest”.
The man said it had an impact on his mental and physical welfare as “she may see me around and call the gardaí”.
The man said he had lost his job and recently started a new one and was seeking a protection order.
“I am going to give you the order,” said the judge. “She’s not to contact you and you’re not to contact her,” he added.
The judge said it was a full order, including contact by electronic means. He told the man he could return to court and get an order for up to five years’ duration.
He said the gardaí should serve it today or as soon as possible.
“They do prioritise these things and hopefully it will be served for you,” the judge added.
