Nurse knocked his wife unconscious, Kildare court is told
"I find it hard to look at your injuries," judge tells victim
A woman appeared with facial injuries in Naas District Court having allegedly been knocked unconscious by her husband, who works as a hospital nurse.
Commenting on her appearance, Judge Desmond Zaidan told her “the right side of your face is massively swollen'' and added that marks on the woman’s neck beneath a scarf she wore looked like “choking marks”.
Addressing the woman in the witness box, the judge added: “I find it hard to look at your injuries, six to eight feet in front of me.”
The woman told the court that she lives with her husband and they have two young children.
She told the court on January 19 that the incident had taken place the previous night and she had been seen by a doctor. She said she had soft tissue injuries and was taking painkillers.
Both the woman and her partner are not originally from Ireland.
She claimed her husband was drunk at the time and she has no other family members in Ireland.
The assault happened after she returned to the family home having left because he was drunk and abusive.
She told Judge Zaidan that she drove around for an hour and when she returned he beat her while the children were in the car.
A neighbour heard her call for help and contacted the gardaí. She was punched and grabbed and said that for a few minutes she could not remember anything.
She did not go to hospital initially because “I thought it was okay.”
She also said that the gardaí are investigating the matter and arrested the man, before he was subsequently released on garda station bail.
It was the first time he had assaulted her though he abuses her when he is drunk.
She also said he had contracted Covid-19 and hadn’t worked for a period but the judge intervened saying “don’t make excuses, you don’t treat a loved one like that.”
The woman told the court she was afraid to go back into the house “if it happens again” to which the judge responded “why should he stay in the house.”
Judge Zaidan said the case warranted a barring order.
“This could have caused you brain damage, who would have looked after your kids then.”
Referring to the husband, who did not appear, he said “he does this to the mother of his kids, his wife.”
He added “you’re not to blame for any of this, you’re the victim and he has no right to stay in the house.”
Judge Zaidan said he was concerned that others in the woman’s community may encourage her to “resolve it other than by the rule of law.”
When the woman suggested she didn't want the gardaí involved, the judge said that the plain clothes gardaí would deliver the barring order document to the man.
He granted a barring order and urged the woman to make contact with locally based Teach Tearmainn, which provides services to women and children who have suffered domestic violence and abuse.