Court grants barring order after seeing video of husband ‘wielding a knife’

A woman has been granted an interim barring order against her husband after she presented a court with a video that “clearly” showed him “wielding a knife” in her bedroom.

The woman told Dublin District Family Court on Friday that the couple had a young child together and she left the family home earlier this month after matters had “escalated”.

The court heard the woman already had a five-year safety order against her husband, and social workers had recently told her to leave the home following a meeting with the man.

The woman presented the court with a letter from a social worker, which Judge Monika Leech said seemed to support her application for a barring order but that she needed to hear her evidence under oath.

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The woman told the court her husband had beaten her multiple times and threatened her with a knife on one occasion. She said she had left the family home with her son and was scared to go back as the man had told her previously “If you take my son away from me, I will show you.”

The woman presented Judge Leech with a video she had recorded on her phone and said she couldn’t record for too long as she was “so scared”.

Having watched the video, Judge Leech said: “This is a video of your husband in your bedroom with a knife.”

The woman said the day she recorded the video she and her husband had a fight and he had told her if she contacted her family or the gardaí “I will stab you”.

She said her husband had not been physically abusive towards her since the safety order was previously granted but had continued to verbally and financially abuse her.

Judge Leech said having considered the woman’s evidence, including the video, which “clearly shows your husband wielding a knife”, she was greatly concerned about her and her son’s safety.

The judge granted the woman an interim barring order on an ex parte (one side represented only) basis, which excludes the man from the property for eight days, and from watching or being near it.

A full hearing, which the man is expected to attend, was set for a later date.

Judge Leech said there would be no communication and the man would have to go through Tusla for access to the child on advice from the social workers.

The judge said if there were any breaches of the order, the woman should contact the gardaí and wished her and her son “the very best of luck”.

In a separate case before the court, a woman secured a protection order against her husband after she said one night he had become so angry he was banging on her bedroom door and she now locks it as a result.

The woman said she and her husband were separating, which she had accepted but they had a number of children together and needed to be able to co-parent.

She told the court her husband had called her “the MF” and “a b***h” and that he was constantly slamming doors, and as a result she was staying out of his way.

The woman said her husband was trying to turn their children against her and he wouldn’t allow her bring one of them out for a walk.

“I keep telling him the kids have two parents... it doesn’t matter what I say, he gets the last word,” she said.

Judge Leech granted the woman a protection order on an ex parte basis, which prohibits the man from using or threatening to use violence. A full hearing, which the man is expected to attend, was set for a later date.