A pregnant woman with facial injuries was granted an interim barring order against her partner at the emergency domestic violence court in Dolphin House, Dublin.
“I think my eye socket may be broken, it’s very sore, I’m not sure if my nose is broken,” she told the court.
Her partner, the father of her children, punched her in the face some hours earlier, the woman said.
“I’m going for treatment after this,” she said in response to concern expressed by Judge Gerard Furlong.
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The man previously made about ten attempts to strangle her and made excuses he was doing this in his sleep, she said. On other occasions, he tried to choke her with a chair, kicked her door in and told her he would “pipe bomb my home”, she added.
“He told me I would get my kids taken off me, so I didn’t report it to the guards properly,” she said. As well as physical abuse, he subjects her to verbal and financial abuse “and wants me to pay for everything, including his drugs”, the woman told the court.
She does not want the man coming to her home any more or have any contact with him, she said.
When she said the man had told her no one would believe her if she said anything, the judge said: “We believe you.” He granted an interim barring order.
In another ex parte (one side only) application on Friday, another woman who previously obtained a protection order against her husband sought an interim barring order.
She and her young children are “terrified” for their safety at home and had sometimes fled it due to her husband’s behaviour. She was also concerned for her husband’s welfare.
He had “blacked out” from drink when he was meant to be caring for the children at home and had made suicide attempts, she said. Sometimes he phoned or messaged her between 50-100 times a day being either abusive, distressed or threatening self-harm.
His “highly erratic, unpredictable and crisis-driven” behaviour led to gardaí calling multiple times to their home, including to take him to a psychiatric facility. He had been in and out of psychiatric hospitals and after a recent admission, discharged himself and demanded the key to the house from one of the children, saying he would break in otherwise.
The following day, his behaviour “escalated dramatically”, he sent her a large number of messages while she was at work and destroyed some of her belongings, including underwear. He had attempted suicide at home as the children were due back from school and sent her messages showing ropes for hanging.
Gardaí were called and again took him to hospital but he left and returned home. Gardaí came again and took him away but he had returned, took a bag and left the house, telling her he would not go and would “haunt” her.
She does not know where he is and she and the children are “living in fear” he will return. “I am very afraid what he will do when he returns, that we will have to leave again.” The judge said he would grant an interim barring order.
In another case, a protection order was granted to a man who said he is in fear of his ex partner and concerned for the welfare of their young child who has a disability.
He said he fears she intends to take their child to her native country and not return to Ireland. That issue is subject of an upcoming legal case, he said.
The court previously prevented her leaving the country with the child, he said.
He told the judge he had suffered physical, emotional and narcissistic abuse during their relationship and was subject to threats to kill and false allegations. During an incident some months ago, she had locked him into her home before beating him and attempting to stab him with a scissors. That incident is subject of legal proceedings, he said.
