Man (24) who beat up his former partner will serve extra 20 months

A man who beat his former partner in front of her four-year-old child will serve an additional 20 months in jail, reports Sonya McLean.

The woman opened the door of her home to find Sean Rausch (24) and another man. She told Rausch she wanted nothing to do with him and told them both they were not welcome.

Rausch said he wanted to collect some of his belongings before he grabbed the phone out of her hand and forced his way inside.

Garda David Kiely told Diana Stuart BL, prosecuting, that the woman was dragged into her bedroom where Rausch continued to assault her, grabbing her by the throat and attacking her while his friend stood outside the door.

Garda Kiely said that the woman later told gardai she was afraid she would get locked into the bedroom with Rausch. She described him as “laying” into her with punches before she said she lost consciousness.

When she came to the men had gone. Her four-year-old child was standing outside her room and she informed the woman that Rausch had taken her phone with him. The child said Rausch had given her, the child, a hug and told her he was sorry.

Rausch, of Cushlawn Park, Tallaght, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm and false imprisonment at the woman’s home on Infirmary Road, Dublin, on June 17, 2020. He has four previous convictions.

Garda Kiely said gardai arrived at the house and an independent witness told them she saw the men going into the house. She said they were there for ten minutes before Rausch left with a plastic bag.

The woman later said she suffered a broken nose and a fractured spine and collarbone from the assault, but there was no medical report or victim impact statement in court.

Garda Kiely handed in photographs of the woman’s injuries and said her nose was bleeding when gardai arrived at the house, but she refused to get an ambulance as she said she had no one to mind her child.

The woman’s television had been taken off the wall and thrown on the ground during the incident, Garda Kiely said.

Judge Martin Nolan said it must have been a frightening experience for the woman because she had no way of knowing what was going to happen after the men forced entry into her home.

He said she was assaulted pretty badly by Rausch and although he accepts that she sustained a broken nose, he cannot accept that she fractured her back and her collarbone as she had claimed because there was no independent evidence to support this.

Judge Nolan accepted that Rausch gave gardai a different account of what happened, but that otherwise he co-operated with the garda investigation and made admissions.

He noted that Rausch is currently serving a sentence of four years with the final year suspended, which was handed down by Judge Karen O’Connor in October 2020 after he pleaded guilty to two robberies and false imprisonment carried out on February 7, 2020.

Judge Nolan said that as Rausch was on bail for these robberies at the time of this attack, the 20-month sentence he imposed must be consecutive to the term he is currently serving.

He said Rausch seemed like an intelligent and capable man who wants to work after accepting evidence that he is an enhanced prisoner in jail.

Judge Nolan said it was an aggravating feature in the case that he was on bail and that the assault was in the context of “a domestic arrangement”.

Pieter Le Vert BL, defending, said his client apologises for what he has done. He said Rausch had grown up in a chaotic home situation and drugs had been very much a feature of his life.

Mr Le Vert said his client is using his time in custody well.