Kildare man verbally abused disabled child — allegation

A woman who applied for a barring order at Naas District Court told a substitute judge that her ex-partner verbally insulted her disabled child.

The woman appeared before Judge Fiona Brennan on Thursday, February 1 last.

It was heard that the woman already has a protection order against her former partner.

She claimed that he got angry towards her at a restaurant, and allegedly told her: "Who the f**k are you? Do you think you're better than me?"

It was heard that when later that day, at night-time, she was trying to put one of her children, who is disabled, to sleep.

However, her son was scared when she turned off the light.

The child's cries angered the man and he allegedly proceeded to call the child 'a c**t', 'a b*****d'.

According to the woman, he also said: "If I had known this was going to happen, I wouldn't have come down."

She said that his remarks upset the child even more.

The woman also claimed that in one separate incident, he cornered her, grabbed her by the hair, and was so angry that he 'was frothing at the mouth.'

She said: "He has been arrested before. He has issued death threats and threatened to stab one of my children."

In addition, she alleged that her ex-partner's family have also verbally abused her disabled child, which once resulted in the child wetting themselves because they were so upset.

The court was told that the woman is availing of the services of a domestic violence prevention group.

Judge Brennan decided to grant the woman an interior barring order until the case resumes at a later date.

She also directed for gardaí to serve the order on the man.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact Samaritans Ireland (116123 or [email protected]) or Women's Aid (1800 341 900).

In addition, you can visit https://www.childline.ie/ or https://enableireland.ie/.