Kildare judge rejects barring order, but grants safety order

A Naas District Court Judge refused a barring order for a woman, but did grant her a safety order.

The decision in the case, which was held in-camera (in private) was made by Judge Desmond Zaidan on Thursday, February 8 last.

During the court session, the woman accused her ex-husband, whom she is currently in the process of separating from, of both physical and verbal abuse on different dates in County Kildare.

She also claimed that he verbally abused their children.

The man denied all allegations put to him by the State, and added that while he and his ex-wife had heated arguments, he denied verbally abusing her to the extent that she was alleging.

The main crux of the case came down to an incident in a hotel, in which the woman claimed that he attempted to strangle her.

However, the man countered that she was drunk at the time, and made the claim without basis.

The man added that while he did touch her during the incident, he only lightly grabbed her upper arms and told her to 'calm down.'

His defending solicitor drew the court’s attention to the fact that the woman later withdrew her statement to gardaí against him.

When she took to the stand, the woman explained that she felt under pressure to withdraw the statement by the man’s family members.

However, the defending solicitor said that the garda in question specifically said that she 'lied.'

When the man took to the stand, he said that the woman had been making the allegations out of him as they are currently involved in a financial dispute related to their home.

He added that he no longer lives in the home, and said that he was willing to take an undertaking to never go back there.

In addition, he said that while he no longer harboured romantic feelings for the woman, he still loved the children they have together.

The defending solicitor said that he felt that the woman’s accusations did not 'come within a roar of the requirements for a barring order; a safety order would be more than adequate here.'

He added that he felt that the woman was 'abusing the legal process for financial gain.'

After consideration, Judge Zaidan agreed that the woman’s claims did not constitute a barring order, but did grant her a safety order lasting two years.

He also urged both the man and the woman to watch over their children during the separation process.