Courts

Woman whose partner threatened her with shotgun granted safety order

Family Law Court hears ‘paranoid’ man also hit woman when she was pregnant

The woman told Judge Alec Gabbett the man 'became violent and erratic and brandished a loaded shotgun in my direction'.

Gordon Deegan
Wed Mar 13 2024 - 16:17

A judge has granted a five-year safety order to a woman after hearing that her then partner brandished a loaded shotgun in her direction during a row and also hit her when she was pregnant.

In the case at the Family Law Court, the woman said after the man accused her of being unfaithful, she attempted to leave their home.

The woman told Judge Alec Gabbett the man then “became violent and erratic and brandished a loaded shotgun in my direction when I was standing by the car. He tried to smash the car window with the stock of the gun. He then forced me to give me his keys.”

The court heard the shotgun has since been confiscated by gardaí.

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“That was a very frightening incident” Judge Gabbett said. “You were under a lot of control here.”

The woman said that the man first got violent towards her “not long after I found out that I was pregnant where we got into an argument where he accused me of being unfaithful.

“After one argument, I told him that I wanted to leave the relationship. He got really aggressive and as I tried to exit the tractor, he drove off and I was clinging by the side of the tractor.”

In another incident the woman described how the man kicked her out of the house.

“He grabbed me by the throat. I was trying to push him off and he hit me just above the eye. When I finally pushed him off, I ran up to a neighbour’s house to get away from him. He grabbed me and slammed me into a small wall.”

She was four months pregnant at the time.

The woman agreed that the man “is a paranoid individual”.

Judge Gabbett said that “unusually I will grant a five year order” in the case and said that the man can make an access application to see the couple’s baby. The man was not present in court for the ex-parte application.

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