Court hears of armed ex-partner turning up at woman’s home

A woman has told a court she is in fear of her life after her ex-partner turned up at her home with a gun.

The woman was granted an interim barring order against the man at Dublin District Family Court on Wednesday.

The order, which bans the man from the woman’s home or watching or being near her home for eight days, was granted on an ex-parte basis (one side only represented) and a full hearing, where both parties are expected to attend, was set for next month.

The order also prohibits him from further violence or threats of violence and any communication with the woman.

In a sworn statement to the court, the woman said “I’m fearing for my life” as her ex-partner “has come to my house with a gun”.

She said on a separate occasion he kicked her front door in. The woman said her former partner is “on hard drugs” and sometimes comes to her home late at night.

“Sometimes I cannot sleep,” she said.

The woman said she had to pay hundreds of euros to get CCTV installed at her home and on another occasion the man “climbed in my window during the night”.

She said her former partner has been charged in relation to the incidents and has broken bail conditions which require him not to be near her home. The woman said was advised by gardaí to get a barring order against him.

Judge Gerard Furlong granted the woman an interim barring order and said as these incidents were occurring at night at her home and where a child was present, "a protection order wouldn't be sufficient".

A protection order prohibits a person from using or threatening to use violence but does not ban them from the family home or being near the home.

The judge told the woman to call gardaí immediately if her former partner breaches the order.

“You don’t have a child together and therefore there is no reason for him to be contacting you,” added the judge.

Shadow of addiction

In a separate case, a woman secured a barring order against her husband after she told the court he punched holes in the kitchen walls, “calls me horrible names” and “leaves me with no money for food and bills”.

The woman’s husband, who was present in court for the hearing, said he consented to the order which will last for 18 months.

The woman said she was seeking a barring order due to her husband’s “drugs and alcohol addiction” and wanted the order to continue until he had completed an alcohol programme and produced “clean urine”.

In a sworn statement to the court, the woman said her husband “grinds his teeth and holds his fists up to me”.

“He makes me feel so low,” she said. “He drinks 14 cans a night and makes me feel terrified in my own home. He controls who I speak to and where I go. I can’t have friends over.”

The woman claimed that her husband had tried to force himself on her on one occasion.

“My mental state is broken,” she said. “I feel so alone.” The woman said he had also smashed one of their children’s mobile phones.

The woman’s husband did not object to the barring order and said “just give it [the order] to her . . . I’ll leave the house”.

He said that he couldn’t go into a treatment facility as he would lose his job. And he added: “I haven’t drank in nearly two weeks.”

He also said that he had “signed up for [addiction] meetings”.

Judge Furlong granted the barring order for 18 months and included a recommendation that the man attend an alcohol addiction treatment programme.