Mother who fled family home after being allegedly punched in face by son gets temporary barring order

A mother with serious facial injuries has told a judge she fled her home with another child after her adult son allegedly punched her several times in the face.

Another woman alleged her former partner turned up at her home late one night recently, smashed furniture and kicked her leg, breaking a bone.

Both were among several people who made ex parte (one side only) applications to Judge Gerard Furlong at Dublin District family court on Friday for emergency orders under the Domestic Violence Act.

A woman got an interim barring order against her adult son, aged in his twenties, who lives in the family home. Her son has a history of extreme anger and outbursts, “so bad he punches holes in walls and doors”, she said.

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“He has told me one day he will eventually end up killing me.”

He punched her several times after she objected to him having a vicious dog in her home, kicked in the door when an ambulance was called and she and her other child have been out of the house for several days since, she said.

Judge Furlong, noting the woman’s serious facial injuries, said he had no hesitation in granting an interim barring order requiring the son to leave the family home pending further order.

In a separate case, a woman who attended court on crutches, told the court her former partner had called to her home, which she owns, late one night during the past week. She said they had an argument and he had smashed the TV, chairs and radiators.

He told her he would break her leg and kicked her in the leg, which caused her leg injury, and bit her on the face and arm, she said.

Judge Furlong told her he would “absolutely” grant the emergency protection order (EPO) sought.

In a different case, an EPO was obtained by a woman who said her ex partner continuously turns up at her home, bangs the door, blocks the driveway with his car, and sends her threatening and intimidating messages, mainly relating to their young child. The situation is causing stress to the child but her ex had said he will continue to come to her home despite being instructed not to do so, she said.

The judge granted the order pending a full hearing in April when the woman could seek an order to extend for up to five years.

Another case involved a woman who previously got an EPO against her ex partner over an alleged assault on her several months ago while living in a homeless hub with their daughter.

She said she had not turned up in court when that matter was returned because she was heavily pregnant but wanted an EPO over an alleged incident in recent days.

She said her ex had turned up very drunk outside her accommodation and followed her and their young daughter. They were terrified and fled into a shop, he stood at the door “screaming he was going to bury me” and followed them around the shop until he realised she had called gardaí and left, she said.

The woman was entitled to an EPO, the judge ruled.

In a separate case, an EPO was obtained by a man who said his wife was engaged in ongoing intimidation and aggression towards himself and their children in the family home. “We are all living in fear of what she might do,” he said. His wife’s sister assaulted one of his older children, he alleged.

The judge, who noted safety orders previously separately obtained by the man and his wife had been returned to February, said he would grant an EPO, primarily in the interests of the couple’s younger children. The claim of assault against the wife’s sister could not be addressed in this court, he said.

An interim barring order was refused to another woman who said she wanted her husband out of their jointly owned home. He is a chronic alcoholic who subjects her to constant emotional and mental abuse, “won’t leave me alone” and speaks “in an awful way” to their children, she said. She said “his rage is frightening”, he “talks rubbish” and she just wanted “peace” at home.

The judge said he would grant an EPO but a domestic violence court could not address issues concerning a jointly owned property. It seemed she would have to start separation proceedings and she or the man would have to buy out the other’s share of the house, he said.

When the distressed woman said she would not be able to buy the man out, the judge said he appreciated that was “easier said than done”.

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