Courts

Dublin man who beat partner unconscious, leaving child wandering streets looking for help, jailed for three years

After man beat his partner, her seven-year-old son was found walking through streets wearing pyjamas

The man can't be named to protect the identity of his partner. Photograph: Tom Honan/The Irish Times
Isabel Hayes
Tue Jul 16 2024 - 17:54

A Dublin man who beat his partner unconscious, leading to her seven-year-old child being found wandering the streets in his pyjamas in winter looking for help, has been jailed for three years.

The 36-year-old man, who can’t be named to protect his former partner’s anonymity, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of assault causing her harm at her home on December 17th last year.

The court heard that in the aftermath of the assault, the woman’s seven-year-old son was found walking through the streets wearing just a T-shirt and pyjama bottoms. He told a man who found him that his mum was lying on the ground and his dad had hit her on the head.

When gardaí who were separately alerted to an assault at the woman’s address arrived at the scene, some of her other children were outside the house flagging them down.

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The woman and her children subsequently spent Christmas in a refuge, the court heard.

Sentencing the man on Tuesday, Judge Elma Sheahan said that as a result of the assault, “a small boy left his home not fully dressed looking for help for his mother whom he had seen being hit by his dad and was left lying on the ground”.

She noted that the fact the woman’s other children were outside the house seeking help showed the “fear and trauma” they suffered, which she said was “compounded by the fact they had to leave their home and spend Christmas in a refuge”.

She noted the man’s guilty plea, his co-operation with gardaí and a letter of apology he wrote to his former partner in which he outlined his remorse for his actions on the day in question.

She set a headline sentence of four years and reduced it to three years, taking these mitigating factors into account.

A local garda told Rebecca Smith, prosecuting, that a man noticed the little boy walking down the road on his own and took him into his van to keep him warm. He rang gardaí to alert them to the fact he had found the child and also to what the boy was saying about his mother.

Gardaí who arrived on the scene having been separately alerted to a disturbance in the home, found a number of children outside and the man in a state of intoxication, shouting “arrest me”, the court heard.

Inside, they found the woman sitting on the steps of the stairs with her head in her hands. She had bleeding and bruising to her face and indicated the man had done this to her. She was taken to hospital by ambulance.

She suffered bleeding to the eye and facial bruising, the court heard.

She later told gardaí that they had been drinking alcohol from a hamper they had won the night before. She went to bed but when she awoke in the morning, he appeared to still be drinking.

He then punched her to the face without warning. She left the house briefly in a daze when she realised her seven-year-old had left, but when she returned indoors he punched her again and she lost consciousness. A victim impact statement was handed into court, but not read out.

The court heard the pair had been in a relationship for a few years and, while he was not the father of her children, they had taken to calling him “dad”.

The man was taken into custody for questioning, but deemed too intoxicated to be interviewed for six hours and later said he couldn’t remember much of the incident. He has been in custody since.

He has 14 previous convictions, mainly for public order and road traffic offences.

Sarah-Jane O’Callaghan,

defending, said the man suffered a number of bereavements in recent years and had been drinking more heavily. His parents were in court to support him.

The woman was also in court for the sentencing.