A 13-year-old boy became hysterical with the fright of being present when his mother’s partner broke in and kicked down a locked bedroom door to attack his mother so severely that she feared for her life.

The 38-year-old assailant was convicted four times previously for breaching a barring order under the Domestic Violence Act before this serious attack.

He pleaded guilty on the date a trial was about to commence at Cork Circuit Criminal Court and Judge Helen Boyle sentenced him to three years with the last six months suspended.

The sentence is backdated for a period of eight months to allow for the period he had already served in custody.

Garda Mark O’Donovan said that this arose on August 24, 2020, at a house in the Douglas area of Cork when he picked up a concrete patio slab and threw it through a glass patio door on that date at 11pm.

He was seen by his partner and on CCTV. He smashed through a back patio door and she locked herself in a bedroom with her 13-year-old son.

The child was hysterical and appealed for the assault to stop. He was inconsolable.

When gardaí arrived, the accused man violently resisted arrest.

He showed no remorse and would not cooperate with gardaí. Ray Boland, senior counsel, referred to the accused man’s previous convictions which ran to more than 100 and they included four counts of breach of a barring order, putting the same woman — his former partner — in fear during incidents in the past.

Mr Boland said the 38-year-old defendant was never arrested sober.

In her victim impact statement, the woman said she had been in an extremely unhealthy relationship with the accused.

On the day, she feared for her life and thought she was going to be killed and was unable to talk him down.

She suffered nightmares and was extremely concerned about the effect it had on her son.

She said she had moved on with her life and was never happier than she is now.

However, she has had to increase the amount of CCTV in and around her house in case the accused would return.

The accused has been in a new relationship with another woman for the past two years.

However, on the day in August 2020 he reacted violently to hearing that his former partner was in a new relationship.