Cth
05-29-2007, 11:01 AM
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/woman-tells-of-grotesque-behaviour-by-barred-ex-683685.html
A MAN was warned yesterday that he faced 10 months in jail if he again breached a barring order to stay away from his former partner.
Tina Doohan told a court how her ex had entered her home and defecated on her spaghetti bolognese dinner before rubbing it on her face. After this grotesque incident, the mother of one had her hand cut as she held up her plate.
Ms Doohan told the court her former partner Patrick McLaughlin had breached a barring order when he entered her home. McLaughlin claimed that she had soiled her own food and cut her own hand.
Drink-fuelled
The grim picture of the final months of a drink-fuelled relationship was revealed at Donegal Circuit Court yesterday.
Judge John O'Hagan was hearing 41-year-old McLaughlin's appeal against conviction and a 10-month sentence for twice breaching a three-year barring order and assaulting Ms Doohan.
The court heard the assault happened on February 17 last when Ms Doohan was eating spaghetti while watching television at her home at Alt Aoibhinn, Meenanillen, Derrybeg.
McLaughlin entered through the back door, she said. "Then he cut my hand when I put the plate up."
The court heard the couple had lived together for over seven years until the barring order was imposed last August. Ms Doohan, whose left arm was in plaster following a recent hand injury, said McLaughlin stayed there on a number of occasions, sometimes with her approval.
She initially denied she was an alcoholic. Defence lawyer Peter Nolan said there would be evidence that she was once found comatose with three or four empty vodka bottles nearby. She agreed she was undergoing alcohol counselling.
McLaughlin, who had an address two doors away from Ms Doohan, told the court the pair had slept together as recently as Monday night after he met her in Letterkenny where she was getting treatment for her injured arm.
He said he had lived with her until February despite the barring order because she had invited him back.
But she had phoned the gardai a number of times since, sometimes to complain about his snoring.
McLaughlin told the judge he accepted he had no right to be in the house even if invited - although they had slept together "the other night". He added: "I won't be going back."
The judge suspended the sentence but warned McLaughlin that if he breached the barring order again he would go to jail for 10 months.
A MAN was warned yesterday that he faced 10 months in jail if he again breached a barring order to stay away from his former partner.
Tina Doohan told a court how her ex had entered her home and defecated on her spaghetti bolognese dinner before rubbing it on her face. After this grotesque incident, the mother of one had her hand cut as she held up her plate.
Ms Doohan told the court her former partner Patrick McLaughlin had breached a barring order when he entered her home. McLaughlin claimed that she had soiled her own food and cut her own hand.
Drink-fuelled
The grim picture of the final months of a drink-fuelled relationship was revealed at Donegal Circuit Court yesterday.
Judge John O'Hagan was hearing 41-year-old McLaughlin's appeal against conviction and a 10-month sentence for twice breaching a three-year barring order and assaulting Ms Doohan.
The court heard the assault happened on February 17 last when Ms Doohan was eating spaghetti while watching television at her home at Alt Aoibhinn, Meenanillen, Derrybeg.
McLaughlin entered through the back door, she said. "Then he cut my hand when I put the plate up."
The court heard the couple had lived together for over seven years until the barring order was imposed last August. Ms Doohan, whose left arm was in plaster following a recent hand injury, said McLaughlin stayed there on a number of occasions, sometimes with her approval.
She initially denied she was an alcoholic. Defence lawyer Peter Nolan said there would be evidence that she was once found comatose with three or four empty vodka bottles nearby. She agreed she was undergoing alcohol counselling.
McLaughlin, who had an address two doors away from Ms Doohan, told the court the pair had slept together as recently as Monday night after he met her in Letterkenny where she was getting treatment for her injured arm.
He said he had lived with her until February despite the barring order because she had invited him back.
But she had phoned the gardai a number of times since, sometimes to complain about his snoring.
McLaughlin told the judge he accepted he had no right to be in the house even if invited - although they had slept together "the other night". He added: "I won't be going back."
The judge suspended the sentence but warned McLaughlin that if he breached the barring order again he would go to jail for 10 months.