A man who alleged his wife broke his ribs twice and has subjected him to coercion and abuse for years has secured a protection order against her.
The man told the emergency domestic violence court in Dolphin House, Dublin, on Friday his wife has been “extremely abusive” throughout their relationship.
She has subjected him to coercion, emotional, physical and financial abuse, including not permitting him to access bank accounts or to make purchases “even for food”, without her permission, he said.
She is verbally abusive to his family and friends, has made false allegations of domestic abuse by him to family members, and “ridicules” his documented mental health issues in front of their young children, he said.
He had asked her to stop doing so, but she refused, including making references to suicide, he said. This had an “emotional toll”.
The situation had escalated into physical violence and she broke his ribs twice, the last time some days ago, he said.
When his doctor remarked it was unusual a rib would break twice in the same place, he told him it was “because of domestic abuse” and was advised by him to contact gardaí. He did so, and was advised to seek a protection order.
Judge Gerard Furlong said he would grant a protection order “straight away”. The order, granted ex parte (one side only represented) is returnable to March when the woman can respond to his claims.
In another case, the judge discharged an interim barring order (IBO) granted ex parte earlier this month to a woman against her estranged husband. The man was in court but there was no appearance by the woman.
Judge Furlong noted the IBO was granted on sworn information by the woman, including allegations he slapped her in the face twice on Christmas Eve and assaulted her again on January 13th.
The couple have young children and the woman, who said she had broken up with the man some months earlier, said she feared for her safety.
The man told the judge the woman’s allegations are false and he has lived in his car since the IBO was granted because he has “nowhere to go”.
Because the woman failed to attend court, the judge discharged the order, with the effect the man may return to the house.
When the man asked could he come to an agreement with the woman “to stay in the front room for now”, the judge said he would urge them to try to reach some agreement. Both are entitled to be in the house and it “would be good to take a lesson from what had happened”, adding he was aware the man disputed the woman’s claims.
In a third case, the judge granted interim barring orders to a mother against two of her sons, aged in their 20s, after alleging aggressive and threatening behaviour by both. One threatened to smash her jaw and the other to bomb her house with herself and her younger children in it, she said. One threatened to set her father’s car on fire if she sought a barring order, she said.
The woman said she believed there “probably is drugs involved”, one son had stolen money from the other and from her other children, and she had “nothing but trouble”.
“I don’t want the two of them there, I have had enough,” she said.
Due to Storm Éowyn there were almost no court hearings nationwide on Friday, but the emergency domestic violence court sat from 2pm to deal with some cases. Judge Furlong also block adjourned more than 80 family law cases which had been listed before the Dolphin House courts on Friday, including cases concerning guardianship, access, custody and maintenance
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