A man accused of breaching a protection order by repeatedly slapping his wife on the back of the head has been granted bail after a judge found there was no evidence that he was likely to intimidate her.
The man, who is in his 40s and is legally entitled to anonymity, appeared before Judge Anne Watkin at Dún Laoghaire District Court charged with breaching a protection order at the couple’s home on July 13 last contrary to Section 33 of the Domestic Violence Act 2018.
It is alleged that he breached the order by slapping his wife a number of times on the back of the head with an open palm and shouting at her, “You’re not welcome here”, putting her in fear.
Garda Michael Grennan objected to bail on the grounds that the accused would interfere with the alleged victim, telling the court that the woman had indicated she would not attend court but had not explained why.
Judge Watkin said the complainant could have declined to attend for any number of reasons and asked whether there was any evidence that the accused was likely to intimidate her as a witness.
Defence solicitor, Andrew Vallely, said his client had been living at the family home with his wife and children at the time of the alleged offence but had since left and would reside at a new address in Dublin.
“He lived there at the time,” he told the court.
“Well, he doesn’t live there now,” Judge Watkin replied, before granting bail.
The conditions of bail include that the accused must reside at the new address, notify gardaí of any change, provide them with his phone number and stay away from the family home. He was also ordered to have no contact with the applicant.
The case was adjourned for eight weeks for disclosure and legal aid was granted to Mr Vallely.