A man who is accused of putting his wife in fear by attacking her and punching her in the face numerous times at the family home earlier this month had accused his wife of having an affair with his brother.

That was the claim made as the 34-year-old defendant made an unsuccessful application for bail at an in-camera hearing of Cork District Court yesterday.

The complainant said she did not have an affair with her husband’s brother.

However, she said her husband had made this allegation before.

Garda Dylan Murphy arrested the defendant on a charge of breaching a safety order by putting his wife in fear on January 12.

The defendant’s reply to the charge was: “Can I have a copy of CCTV when she assaulted me two days prior to this incident?”

Garda Murphy testified that the objection to bail was based on the seriousness of the allegation that the accused entered the home of his wife and assaulted her.

“It is alleged he was shouting at her and punched her in the face numerous times, that he grabbed her hair, pinned her to the wall, held her throat and punched her again. He also punched a hole in the wall,” Garda Murphy said.

The officer said that he observed physical injuries on the complainant’s face and neck when he arrived at the scene. She set off the alarm via her phone.

The complainant testified that, “If he gets bail he would threaten me to drop the charges. 

"I think he would be trying to intimidate me to drop the charges. He tried to ring my number but I blocked his number.

“He had an affair with my sister. That came out 18 months ago. 

"He accused me of having an affair with his brother. He has a cocaine addiction.” 

The defendant also gave evidence and asked, “If she was in such fear of me why would she take me in to the house over Christmas?” 

He added, “I just want my kids in my life.” 

Judge Olann Kelleher refused bail and remanded the accused in custody for one week.