Kildare court: Judge appalled after viewing footage of explosive argument

A judge sitting in Naas District Court on Thursday, October 27, was visibly repulsed by video footage of an argument shown to him.

Judge Brendan O' Reilly was shown footage from the phone of a woman seeking a protection order against her partner.

During the in-camera (in private) hearing, she alleged that her husband hit her on Sunday, October 23.

When the judge asked her if she had gone to the gardaí with her allegations, she replied that she did.

The woman claimed that during an argument with her husband, he pushed her in front of their young child, which prompted the child to begin screaming and crying hysterically.

She also said that she injured one of her fingers as a result of the push, which she showed to the judge.

The woman then alleged that her husband grabbed her by the neck and took her phone, which she began recording him with, and tried to flush it down a toilet.

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When she went to try and take it off him, he slammed the door on her, causing her to injure her side.

The woman showed the video to the judge, and became emotional while listening to the audio.

After the video ended, Judge O' Reilly remarked: "In front of a child, my God."

He asked her if her husband had ever been violent towards her in the past, she said that he had been verbally abusive towards her, but this was the first time he had ever physically assaulted her.

The judge said that he was satisified after seeing the video that she met the threshold for a protection order.

He asked her if she was satisfied to remain in the home with her husband, to which she replied: "Yes, for my child."

Garda Sergeant Brian Jacob suggested that gardaí could serve the order on her husband, which the judge agreed with.