Man jailed for attacking ex-partner and throwing brick through window

A Dublin man has been sentenced to 2½ years in prison for attacking his former partner and smashing windows at her home.

Paul O'Shea (34) of Owensilla, Ballymun, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to an assault which took place in his neighbourhood on May 17th of this year.

Garda John Fitzpatrick told Elva Duffy, prosecuting, that gardaí had been alerted at 4am.

The front-door window and an upstairs window had been smashed by O’Shea, who had been living on and off at that address around the time of the attack.

O’Shea’s former partner, who already had a protection order against the accused, had been trying to get him to leave.

She described him as going “on a mad one”, throwing chairs and punching her in the head.

When she managed to get him out of the house, he threw a brick at her bedroom window and smashed her front door.

She told gardaí he had been kicking her and dragged her out to the front garden, calling her names and insulting her.

He smashed a photo of her children and another one of her parents which she said “meant the world to her”.

When gardaí arrived on the scene, O’Shea ran off, calling his ex-partner a rat.

The court heard that the injured party had been incredibly afraid and that she was terrified of him.

She had marks on her left side where she had been kicked and her face was marked on the right side.

The damage that was done to her home was a particular issue for the victim, who did not have the finances to replace the broken windows.

Gardaí had then carried out a search at O’Shea’s parents’ house which was on the same street. He tried escaping, climbing over a side fence but was arrested.

The accused has 64 previous convictions for theft, assaulting a police officer, robbery, damaging property, intoxication in a public place, sexual assault and threatening to kill or cause harm.

The court heard that O’Shea is 10 years younger than his former partner and that they had a toxic relationship involving drug abuse.

Nicola Cox, defending, said that while this was a horrific offence, O'Shea had been labouring under a drug addiction at the time.

She said that her client was engaging with Merchants Quay rehabilitation services and that he was doing very well in custody and was drug free.

The court heard that when O’Shea takes drugs, he is very unpleasant to be around and that his parents have had to take a protection order against him in the past.

The accused was diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder in 2019 and would like assistance for depression. He felt the drug abuse was medicinal and was his way of dealing with issues.

Judge Pauline Codd described "violent name-calling" which had left the victim in need of counselling. She said O'Shea's ex-partner felt she could not have her children over to the house for Christmas following the attack.

Aggravating factors included the fact that O’Shea was in breach of a court order and the fact that it was an assault of a male upon a female which involved a disparity in terms of strength.

She noted the added insult of “smashing up” the front of the victim’s house.

Speaking about O’Shea’s personal circumstances, the judge said he had gained a level of insight into the effect of using drugs.

She sentenced him to 3½ years in prison, suspending the final year on the condition that he be of good behaviour particularly in relation to drugs.