Man threatened to circulate naked images of former partner, trial told

A man threatened to circulate naked images of his former partner on the internet and send them to her family if she didn’t withdraw assault allegations against him, a coercive control trial has heard.

The 52-year-old Dublin man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the alleged victim, is on trial in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court charged with coercive control, intimidation, endangerment and multiple assaults of his then-partner.

He has pleaded not guilty to one count of engaging in behaviour which was controlling or coercive of his partner at various locations, including their Dublin home, between January 1st, 2019 and September 22nd, 2019.

He has also pleaded not guilty to 13 counts of assault causing harm to his partner, one count of assault, one count of endangerment and one count of intimidation on dates between May 2018 and January 2020.

The endangerment charge relates to an offence at a bridge in Dublin, where the man allegedly pushed and lifted the woman towards the railings of the bridge, creating a substantial risk of death or harm to her.

The assault charges include allegations that he burnt her foot with a cigarette, pushed her down stairs, headbutted her, punched her, stood on her head, stamped on her arm and strangled her.

The woman (43) gave evidence to the jury via video-link on Tuesday and told the jury she met the man through a mutual friend when she was looking for a place to live. She said they got together shortly before she moved into his apartment.

Under questioning from prosecution barrister, Kerida Naidoo SC, the woman said there “wasn’t a particularly nice beginning to the relationship”. She said shortly after they got together, the man stubbed his cigarette out on her foot and burnt it “for no reason”.

On another occasion early in the relationship, she said he started throwing chicken wings at her during dinner in a restaurant. “It was so ridiculously humiliating,” she said.

The woman alleged the man smashed her phone one day after he came across her talking on her phone while waiting on him. On another occasion, she said he cut her face and neck with a pizza slicer.

As the relationship progressed, the woman said they were together “all day every day”. “I couldn’t even walk around the shops on my own,” she said.

The court heard the woman had been working for a company, but her six-month contract ended and she was then on social welfare while she looked for work. She said the man took her social welfare money every week. “By Tuesday evening, I wouldn’t have a fiver,” she said.

She told the court the man would answer her phone when it rang and her friends eventually stopped calling. “Gradually, we were completely isolated from friends and family,” she said.

The woman described a number of violent incidents that allegedly occurred and the jury was shown a number of photos she took of the injuries she sustained.

She described a number of alleged incidents, including that the man threw her down a flight of 12 stairs, threatened to drown her in a river, stamped on her head and stamped on her arm, breaking it. Describing the alleged incident on the bridge, she said she felt sick just thinking about it.

The woman alleged the man often dragged her around the apartment floor by her hair and punched her. “I had a black eye a couple of times a week,” she said.

She told the court that if the man had taken alcohol, “the smallest, smallest thing would set him off and it always, always escalated into violence”. She agreed that she herself had an alcohol issue that predated her relationship with the man.

She said one fight started because she left a hair bobbin on the table, another one because she took one euro out of the kitchen cupboard.

During their relationship, the woman said she spent periods in Women’s Aid shelters. After she spent a night with another man in a hotel, she said the man made her phone every member of her family and tell them she was a “cheating tramp”.

She said after the man broke her arm, hospital staff alerted gardaí and she gave a statement to them.

The court heard the man then allegedly told the woman he would circulate naked images and videos he had of her on the internet and send them to her family if she didn’t withdraw the allegations against him.

“I was extremely distressed over that,” the woman said.

The trial continues on Wednesday before Judge Elma Sheahan and a jury.