A woman who alleged her “aggressive” husband kicked her out of the car on a busy dual carriageway has been granted an interim barring order against him after he was deemed to pose an “immediate risk”.
The woman was one of dozens to attend the emergency domestic violence court at Dolphin House in Dublin on Friday, seeking emergency orders.
She told Judge Patricia Cronin that her husband, with whom she has young children who were in the car, was “aggressive” while driving on the busy road.
“Before he pulled over, he punched me on the leg,” she said, adding that he subsequently “kicked me out of the car”.
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“I was really scared, I was terrified,” she said, adding that the incident was the “last straw”.
She said it was the first time her husband had been physically violent towards her, though he has “punched walls or tables”.
“It’s mostly manipulation and verbal abuse,” she said, further claiming that he engages in substance misuse.
When the woman got back into the car, she alleged her husband was “threatening” to disclose personal information about her to others.
She told the judge she was worried for her children, adding that she overheard one of them telling a family member that “daddy punched mommy”.
“And I’m worried for myself. I can’t take any more, being called names and being put down, having him be so nasty to me all the time,” she said.
Citing an escalation of the husband’s behaviour, Judge Cronin said she was satisfied there was an “immediate risk of significant harm” and granted an interim barring order.
The order, to be served by gardaí, provides for the woman’s husband to be removed from the family home until a full hearing is held.
In another case on Friday morning, a woman alleged that the father of her child had fractured her ribs during an incident several months prior.
She claimed when she was attempting to take her child back into her care, the ex-partner grabbed her “by the head” and threw her to the ground before kicking her in her side.
“I couldn’t even lift my child out of the cot,” she said.
After attending a Dublin hospital, a scan revealed that her ex-partner had fractured two of her ribs, she said.
“I was in bits for weeks. I’m actually only getting back on my feet now because it brought me down so much, what he did to me,” she told the judge.
The woman said she had concerns about meeting her ex-partner and his new girlfriend in future to facilitate access to the child, and was concerned her ex-partner could physically attack her again.
She claimed her ex-partner’s girlfriend attempts to “intimidate” her in public, saying she has called her “an embarrassment” and “fat” previously.
The judge granted her a protection order until the matter is heard in full.
Separately, a woman who claimed her husband, who lives abroad, threatened to “abduct” her child was also granted a protection order on Friday.
The court heard the woman’s husband has an address in a Gulf state, with the woman saying he had been “threatening to come to Ireland and abduct my child”.
Judge Cronin granted the order to be served outside the jurisdiction by email, which will be sent by the court.
The order, which will also cover the couple’s child, prohibits the man from putting the woman in fear for her safety “in the event he comes into this jurisdiction”, the judge said, and will last until the matter is heard in full later this year.
Another woman told the judge that her partner “strangled” and “beat” her and attempted to stab her during a violent episode days after Christmas.
She was granted an interim barring order after Judge Cronin noted the partner, who is currently in prison after the incident, could return to her home if released on bail.
