A man who attempted to strangle his partner in her own home has been jailed for six years.
Paul Rowland (36), of no fixed abode, was convicted of intentionally or recklessly strangling the woman on January 29, 2025, following a trial at Carlow Circuit Criminal Court.
He had denied the charges and Tara Geoghegan BL, defending, told the court at his sentence hearing last March that he does not accept the verdict of the jury.
The offence of strangulation is a new offence that was added to the Non-fatal Offences Against The Person Act of 1997 when it was revised in 2023. It comes under Section 3(A) assault causing harm and is defined as non-fatal strangulation or non-fatal suffocation.
In sentencing Rowland last week, Judge Mary Morrissey noted that was high moral culpability in the case.
She said Rowland had been drinking and according to the victim, was both physically and emotionally abusive towards her, causing her to become isolated. She said these were aggravating features in the case.
The judge noted that the woman had asked Rowland to leave the property but he remained there.
Judge Morrissey said Rowland committed this offence knowing his partner was physically vulnerable and “wilfully engaged in the act of strangulation with no regard for her safety and did so in the presence of their infant child.”
She further noted that it took place within the context of an intimate relationship, noting that while the woman didn’t believe they were in a relationship any longer, Rowland continued to live at her home and refused to leave.
The judge also took into account evidence that Rowland had been emotionally and physically abusive towards his partner and knew she had pre-existing issues with her back and neck before he strangled her.
Judge Morrissey set a headline sentence of six and a half years.
In mitigation she noted that Rowland is currently homeless and has been in custody since January 2025. She accepted evidence from Ms Geoghegan that Rowland has used this time in custody as “a period of reflection” and is now “anxious to move forward from this unfortunate chapter”, hoping to rebuild a bond with his child.
She also took into account the fact that Rowland has supportive parents and that he had consistent employment up to 2024, which she said demonstrated that he was a contributing member of society.
Rowland had written “a letter of reflection” to the victim and wished her well, but Judge Morrissey said Ms Geoghegan made clear that this was not a letter of apology.
“There is very little by way of mitigation given the attitude of the accused towards the offending and the victim. There is no insight and no expressed remorse and indeed counsel for the accused was clear that the letter to the victim was not to be considered an apology but a reflection,” the judge said.
She reduced the sentence to six years in prison.
Judge Morrissey said she was not going to suspend any of the sentence as Rowland had not demonstrated insight into his offending and had not expressed remorse, nor had he sought counselling so “he could avoid this offending behaviour being repeated”.
At a previous sentence hearing last March, Detective Garda Kayleigh Milward read the woman’s victim impact statement into the record.
She said that since the incident “every room in my house, holds a long lasting nightmare” and she has not gone near her bedroom since that night.
She said she suffers from chronic pain in her neck and had to go for an MRI “for the impact on my body at the hands of Paul Rowland”.
She said it is a huge sense of relief that Rowland has been convicted – saying that he had “taken her spirit”.
“I feel like I have left my children down, I feel like they have been robbed of a mother,” the woman said.
The woman said she had spent her time with Rowland “walking on eggshells”. “I finally got the courage to protect my own safety and my children.”
She said the trial “took so much out of me”.
“I felt like he was laughing at me,” she continued and added that she felt “physically ill” when she had to look at the photographs of her injuries during her evidence to the jury.
“I have a long road ahead of me but I can breathe” she said now that Rowland is in custody.
“I am going to reclaim me back so I can be the best mother to my children. I am looking forward to a fresh start,” the woman.
She said she was thankful for the support she has received from Women’s Aid and domestic violence support services.
At that hearing Judge Morrissey addressed the woman and thanked her for “taking the time and effort” to prepare her victim impact statement which she said was of “great benefit” to the court.
She remarked on the woman’s bravery in also reporting the incident to the gardaí and giving her evidence at trial.
ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE
The woman told the jury during the trial that on January 29, she was lying on her bed when she heard footsteps on the stairs.
She got up to see who it was and encountered Rowland on the stairs. She said he was intoxicated and grabbed her by the neck with one hand, causing her to fall back onto the bed. He then got on top of her and put both hands around her neck.
The woman said she could not breathe, her colour was changing, she was losing focus and she feared she was going to die. She ultimately managed to loosen his grip and get away from him.
She said Rowland took her child downstairs but she got up off the bed, followed him and got the child back.
She then barricaded herself and child into an upstairs room and managed to call gardaí to alert them.
Det Gda Milward told Brian O’Shea BL, prosecuting, that she and her colleagues responded to a call around 7pm on January 29, regarding a domestic dispute in a housing estate in Carlow.
She said she could see Rowland in the front window of the sitting room. Officers knocked on the door and the accused opened it. She said he was “incredibly evasive and would not overly engage with us”.
She said she could hear the “sound of a female” who appeared to be in distress and then the woman walked down the stairs holding her child.
“She was very, very emotional and said Mr Rowland had tried to strangle her,” Det Gda Milward said.
She said she could see red marks on the woman’s neck, bruising to her face and a cut to her nose.
Det Gda Milward said she and the woman went into the kitchen and the woman told her that Rowland had strangled her.
She said Rowland was arrested and brought to Carlow Garda Station. She described him as being intoxicated and said a doctor later deemed him unfit for questioning due to his level of intoxication.
Det Gda Milward said that Rowland has two previous convictions.
She accepted a suggestion from Ms Geoghegan that Rowland has no previous convictions for violent offending.
Ms Geoghegan told the court that her client had “written a letter of reflection” for the woman but she does not accept the letter. In the letter, Rowland said he hopes that he can rebuild a relationship with her that they could act as co-parents together at some point in the future.
Counsel said Rowland has spent his time in custody reflecting and has described it as “a very unfortunate chapter in his life”.
He says that he and the woman had “a tumultuous relationship” with “its ups and downs” but he is determined to rebuild a relationship with her in an attempt to enable them to co-parent together.
Ms Geoghegan said there has “been a significant decline” in Rowland’s mental health since his remand in custody.
Counsel said he was born in the US, just outside New York and raised there until the family moved to Ireland when he was 13 years old. He attended school and college locally in Carlow town. He had hopes to one day become a teacher, Ms Geoghegan told the court.