A 38-year-old man who held down his then girlfriend, telling her “you are not leaving this house, b***h, until you are dead” during a vodka-fuelled assault has escaped jail.
Judge Francis Comerford at Ennis Circuit Court imposed a suspended sentence of two years and six months on Colin Curtis of Horseshoe Grove, Crusheen, Co Clare.
Curtis pleaded guilty to the assault causing harm and threatening to kill the woman on May 26th, 2023, at an apartment on Parnell Street, Ennis.
In sentencing, Judge Comerford said that Curtis had “terrorised” the woman during the hour-long ordeal at her apartment in what was “a horrendous assault”.
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Judge Comerford said that it was “a very bad assault” where the woman suffered a series of injuries, though none were grievous. He added that what occurred was an instance of domestic violence.
Judge Comerford said that, since initially hearing the facts of the case at Kilrush Circuit Court, he had come around to a different way of thinking in the sentencing in the case. He said that the mitigation features in the case touch the exceptional circumstances where the court can impose a wholly suspended sentence.
Judge Comerford said that Curtis has, since the offence, done everything that could be anticipated by someone who wanted to mend their ways. He said in reaching his decision he was not for a moment not conscious of the vulnerability of the victim. He commented that “some people think getting a suspended sentence just means getting off completely”.
He said: “The superior courts have recognised that a suspended sentence is a sentence because at any stage if he breaches that, or if Mr Curtis gets drunk or got involved in any alterations, then he will be serving the prison sentence in full.”
Judge Comerford said that Curtis pleaded guilty, was disgusted by what he did, had shown remorse, is addressing his alcohol addiction, has got work and was in the throes of addiction at the time of the assault.
The defendant had no previous convictions for this type of offence, and had brought €4,500 to court for his victim. He had 25 previous convictions, mainly for road traffic offences.
The victim in the case was not in court for either day of the sentencing hearing, and did not provide a victim impact statement.
On the night in question, she escaped the apartment by foot and ran to the local Garda station where she presented herself at 11.55pm with bruises all over her body after the one-hour ordeal.
In her statement to gardaí, the woman said that, during the assault, Curtis held her to the floor and told her “you are not leaving this house, bi***h, until you are dead”.
Counsel for the State, Lorcan Connolly SC (instructed by State Solicitor Aisling Casey) said that the woman described Curtis punching her in the face and pulling her around the sittingroom “like a rag doll”.
Mr Connolly told the court that the woman presented at the Garda station with numerous injuries to her head including a lump on her forehead and swelling on both sides of her jaw. The woman’s chin was bleeding while she also had marks on her neck, arms and fresh bruises on both of her legs.
Garda Jonathan Ryan said that gardaí then to the apartment where they found blood spatters inside the door and various locations around the kitchen.
Garda Ryan said a neighbour in the adjoining apartment heard a woman’s voice saying “stop it, stop it” and the screaming went on for an hour.
In court, counsel for Curtis, Patrick Whyms BL, instructed by solicitor, Tara Godfrey, told the court that Curtis wished to apologise to the woman.
Mr Whyms provided a number of character references for Curtis, including one from his unnamed employer, a garage operator, who described the defendant as friendly, polite “and always willing to go the extra mile”.
Mr Whyms said that the author is aware of the background to the situation and says that “should the worst happen, we will keep Colin’s position open for him”.
Mr Whyms said that Curtis moved to Ireland from the UK in 1999 and had lived in Dublin and Galway before moving to Co Clare.
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