Man jailed after viciously attacking his former partner in her home

Stephen Maguire

A Co Donegal man who broke into his former girlfriend's home and punched her so viciously that she thought she was going to die has been jailed for two years.

The man, in his 20s and cannot be named to protect the identity of his former partner, appeared at Donegal Circuit Court.

The man, who has more than 30 previous convictions, admitted breaking into the woman's home in south Donegal on a date in May, 2025.

Gardaí told the court he punched the woman a number of times in the face after throwing her onto a bed and sitting on top of her so she could not escape.

She later told gardaí that she thought she was going to die.

The accused was charged with assault causing harm to the woman and also stealing her phone when he broke into her home.

The court was told the woman had been granted a safety order against the man and he was not allowed to visit her.

However, on the date in question, the woman returned to her home from seeing a friend and saw the man outside her home.

She called gardaí, but the man managed to enter her home through the kitchen window.

She ran upstairs, but he followed her and set upon her in the bedroom.

The terrified woman was thrown onto the bed by her attacker, and he began to punch her in the face while sitting on top of her.

He then grabbed her phone and fled.

The woman went to hospital with bruising on her forehead and face and was complaining about pain in her head and underwent a CT scan.

The accused man, who was known to gardaí, was arrested a short time later in the vicinity of the woman's house.

Barrister for the accused, Colm Smyth, SC, said his client had addiction issues.

The accused man took to the witness stand and said he wanted to apologise for his actions, saying he was drunk and what he had done was "pure stupidity."

He said he is currently undergoing counselling in prison and said he had "copped on" since this incident.

The court was told the man has a range of previous convictions for a variety of offences including assault causing harm, breaching a barring order, possession of a realistic firearm, public order, trespassing with a weapon and also drugs offences.

Barrister Smyth said the accused has spent approximately a year in prison and has had time to reflect on his actions.

He added that his client has now engaged with addiction services and is very positive about his intentions to mend his ways.

Passing sentence, Judge John Aylmer said he had to keep in mind that the accused carried out the offences while in breach of a safety order.

He said the man broke into the woman's home and attacked her by violently punching her in the face and head and putting her in fear for her life.

He said he found the offences fell in the mid-range and the lower end of the mid-range for such offences and both merited a sentence of four years in jail on each charge to run concurrently.

In mitigation, Judge Aylmer said the accused had entered an early plea, that he seems to be remorseful and is now undertaking courses for his addiction issues.

He added that the accused was drunk at the time of the attack but that this was no excuse.

He said for the early guilty plea and his remorse, he will reduce that headline sentence to one of three years in prison.

In order to encourage his rehabilitation, he said he was also suspending the final 12 months of that sentence, meaning the accused will serve two years in prison.

Judge Aylmer also ordered the accused to stay off drink and drugs and not to come within 500 metres of his former partner.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact Women’s Aid (24-hour freephone helpline at 1800-341 900, email helpline@womensaid.ie) or Men’s Aid Ireland (confidential helpline at 01-554 3811, email hello@mensaid.ie) for support and information.

Safe Ireland also offers a number of local services and helplines at safeireland.ie/get-help/where-to-find-help/. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.