Mother gets suspended sentence for breaching ex-partner’s protection order

A MOTHER received a suspended prison sentence for breaching a protection order at Tallaght District Court.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged with calling an ex-partner by phone and threatening him contrary to section 33 (1) of the Domestic Violence Act 2018.

The court heard that the call was made on July 19, 2024, contravening a protection order made on June 7, 2024, and involved a “bit of name calling.”

The court heard the accused called the injured party a “junkie bastard.”

The ex-partner, who is the father of a four-year-old child which he shares custody with the mother, told Judge Patricia McNamara that a condition within the order was that contact would be made via text/email only regarding access to the child.

The child lives with the mother and the father has access at weekends.

The phone call was played to the court and was made on a morning when there would be a family law court date later that day between the accused and the injured party.

Garda Clodagh Cagney said the accused has one previous conviction, a breach of order in 2023 between the same two parties, for which she was given a one-month suspended sentence in July 2024.

Ciara Ní Ghabhann BL, defence counsel, said the mother wasn’t well with mental health last year and “doesn’t have a terribly clear memory” of the call and was in a “bad place” at the time.

The court heard the 40-year-old mother has three children, with the youngest, a four-year-old, the only child shared with the injured party.

“She told her children to accept responsibility, so she has to do the same,” said Ms Ní Ghabhann.

The court heard the accused had a previous safety order versus the injury party which was thrown out.

“She is doing better, back on treatment, attending a clinic in Ballyfermot for people in unhappy relationships, which she has found helpful,” said Ms Ní Ghabhann.

Judge McNamara took into account the guilty plea but acknowledged that the messages were “not nice.”

With the joint custody of the child, Judge McNamara said the two parties will continue to “have an ongoing relationship” and that the “most important person here is the child.”

The mother was sentenced to seven months, suspended for 12 months, and fined €200 given five months to pay.

Funded by the Local Court Reporting Scheme.