*The case came before Kilrush District Court.
A JUDGE has told a man who punched and head-butted his then partner after she refused to have sex him on different dates that he is very concerned for the man’s future partners.
At Kilrush District Court, Judge Alec Gabbett told the man that the way he dealt with his emotions in the past was to assault his then partner and mother of their children.
Judge Gabbett told that the man that he must complete a course provided by MOVE (Men Overcoming Violence).
In the case, Judge Gabbett found the man guilty of three assaults in April against his now ex-partner and three breaches of a Safety Order she had obtained against him and adjourned the case for a Probation Report.
The couple have a number of children together and in evidence the woman told the court, “I do know that most of the arguments in the house were escalated by him because I was refusing to have sex a lot towards the end of the relationship”.
She said the arguments escalated and “it was mostly around sex and me refusing to have sex”.
The woman told the court “violence escalated and it was all down to the fact that I couldn’t bear to have him near me anymore”.
The woman alleged that in September 2022 in two incidents, the man punched her in the back and head butted her after she refused to have sex.
The couple were not married and now live apart and in evidence the man denied ever striking the woman. He said, “I love the girl – we have children together”.
The man in his late thirties and with no previous convictions said, “I never hit the girl. I never hit a man before. I socialised in Ennis for twenty years and I was never in trouble”.
He added, “I never hit that girl, or pulled her hair or head butted her. If I head-butted her in the head, she would have two black eyes”.
The man said that the couple’s arguments were about money.
However, Judge Gabbett found that the woman’s evidence “was very credible”.
He said, “It is consistent and the common threads where initiating sex or money leads to a row and an assault”.
He said, “This was a semi-coercive or coercive relationship in my view”.
Addressing the man, Judge Gabbett said, “‘No’ means ‘no’ and consent comes into it. If it is not handled the way you want to she will find herself getting a punch or a head-butt”.
Judge Gabbett told the man, “This notion that you love her and that you can touch her is completely misguided. She is not your property”.
Now, after reading the Probation Report, Judge Gabbett said that the nature of the assaults “are the upper end of the District Court”.
At Kilrush District Court, Judge Gabbett said that they attract a custodial sentence.
He said, “Past performance is indicative of future behaviour and I am very concerned about his future partners if he hasn’t addressed his issues- he is a very young man”.
He said that for the assaults “a custodial is appropriate”. He said, “This woman was badly assaulted”.
He said that complying with the Probation Service and completing the MOVE course “is a lifeboat” for the man’s future.
Solicitor, Patrick Moylan for the man said that the MOVE course takes place in Limerick.
In reply, Judge Gabbett said, “How bad – there is another way for your client to go to Limerick”.
Judge Gabbett adjourned the case to monitor the man’s progress with MOVE and for his ex-partner to provide a victim impact statement to court.
