A man in his 50s has been convicted and fined for breaching a protection order, despite asking for his case to be deferred, after he put his former partner in fear by telling her he was “going to sort her out” and that she was “going to pay the price”.
The man, who has an address in Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dún Laoghaire District Court to breaching a protection order made on January 16 last.
Judge Conor Fottrell heard the order was put in place after the breakdown of the man’s relationship with the injured party. They had first entered a relationship in 2005, the court heard.
The court was told that the pair have one child, who is now over 18, and they no longer live together.
The court heard the man breached the order on March 1, by verbally abusing the injured party and putting her in fear.
A garda gave evidence that the man told the woman he was “going to sort her out” and that she was “going to pay the price”.
The injured party was present in court but did not provide a victim impact statement.
Defence solicitor, Patricia Camilon, told Judge Fottrell that her client has no previous convictions, was remorseful and knew what he had said was wrong. Ms Camilon asked the court to take into account that the breach was not violent.
Ms Camilon said the defendant worked in healthcare and that a conviction could be detrimental to his livelihood. She asked Judge Fottrell to put the matter back for a year to give the man a chance to avoid committing any further breaches.
Judge Fottrell said the court accepted the man’s guilty plea but said protection orders were granted for a reason.
He said the order was in place to prevent the other party being put in fear and that the man had clearly breached it.
“These are serious matters”, Judge Fottrell said, adding that this was the case even if the breach was “on the lower end”.
The judge said the order was “very clear and very specific”, and that the man had clearly breached it by verbally abusing the injured party.
Judge Fottrell convicted the man and fined him €500, giving him six months to pay.