Barring order granted against man who threw bed on top of teenage daughter

A woman has told a court her partner of over 20 years threw a bed on their teenage daughter.

The woman told Dublin District Family Court on Friday the man also tried to strangle her earlier this month. She was granted a barring order against him for three years.

In a written statement to the court, the woman said she has had to move back to her mother’s home on previous occasions because he was violent towards her but that she “always took him back”.

The woman said earlier this month he beat her up, leaving her with pains and aches all over her body. The woman said he tried to strangle her when she told him to leave. She said the man threw her against wardrobes and smashed every light bulb in the house. The woman said she had done up the house especially for Christmas.

The woman said he also threw a bed on top of their teenage daughter and that “she won’t come home now”. She said he was “totally out of control” and believes he was on drugs at the time.

The man, who was also present in court but did not give evidence, said he was agreeable to the barring order.

Judge Gerard Furlong granted a three-year barring order, banning the man from the family home, from any further violence or threats of violence, and from watching or being near the home.

Order against son

Separately, an elderly woman who said she was paying drug debts for her adult son was granted an interim barring order.

In a written statement to the court, the woman said her son lives with her and that he is “smashing up my house, robbing money from my purse and threatening me on a regular basis”.

The woman, who was only present in court, said her son is a drug user and that she has to pay a weekly drug debt of €100 for him.

“I feel like I have to walk on eggshells around him,” she said. The woman said his behaviour “affects me deeply” and that she is in a “constant state of fear around him”.

“I want him gone,” she added. “It’s not right living in fear of your own son . . . I’m at the end of my tether.”

Judge Furlong granted an interim barring order on an ex-parte (one side only) basis and set a date for a full hearing, which the woman’s son is expected to attend, in April.

In a separate case involving an application for maintenance for a child, a man told the court he is unsure whether he is the father.

“I’m not sure if this is my child . . . I have doubts,” he said. The man said his name isn’t on the child’s birth certificate and agreed to pay for a DNA test.

Judge Furlong said the DNA test would have to be completed by their GPs while the woman agreed to cooperate.

The judge said if it was the case that the man is the father of the child, maintenance payments to the mother can be backdated. The case was adjourned until April.