A senior woman, appearing in court sporting noticeable bruising around one eye, sought a restraining order against her spouse. Despite this, she described him as a “terrific father” to the judge and expressed her hesitance to “abandon him”.
Having three children together, the pair had recommitted to their marriage vows a few years prior, the woman disclosed this to Judge Michael Ramsey at Dublin’s Family District Court on Friday. The behavioural shift in her husband, she attributed to the passing of one of his siblings, ultimately resulting in his admission to Beaumont Hospital following a suicide attempt. She wished for him to remain institutionalised.
When Judge Ramsey queried whether her husband was being held under mental healthcare regulations, she conveyed her fear, stating, “They’re waiting for him to threaten me, to apprehend him,” she confessed. “Currently, he frightens me, even though I endeavour to support him.”
She wore the visible aftermath of an attack on her face, after which she had been screened for potential brain damage. “He lost control and did this to me,” she expressed. “He fathered my children, he was a wonderful dad. I hope things can change for him.”
Her husband was absent from the proceedings, and the judge approved her request. The order did not necessitate that the man refrain from interacting with his wife. “I’m doing my best not to turn on him,” she added.
In a separate case, a young woman staying in a hostel informed the judge about her ex-boyfriend trying to manoeuvre into her bed while she was recently hospitalised following a miscarriage.
“He was attempting to provoke a sexual interaction,” she shared with Judge Ramsey.
She was able to get help from a nurse who witnessed this behaviour and connected her with a social worker. She was counselled that such behaviour was “far from normal”.
She confessed that although both friends and family had warned her about the toxic nature of her relationship, it had truly hit home when a stranger highlighted its harmfulness. She terminated the relationship once she fell pregnant, only for her former boyfriend to pay her a visit in hospital following her miscarriage. As she lives nearby him, she often suffers from panic attacks, even expressing her fear to venture outside her bedroom. The judge issued a provisional protection order in her favour.
A senior lady recounted her daily routine of spending the day in coffee houses to the court, all out of fear of her spouse. Each evening, she returns home only to promptly seclude herself in her room. According to her, her husband, nearing the stages of Alzheimer’s and having to manage his bipolar disorder, has an overly domineering nature. In her words, “I am persistently terrorised to the point where it feels like stalking…”, articulating her physical and mental exhaustion and fear. They’ve shared a marital home for over four decades, residing alone, she explained. The presiding judge, Ramsey, granted this lady a temporary protective order against her husband, while also scheduling a comprehensive hearing for November.
A younger lady shared her plight, stating her husband’s alcoholism and volatile temper made her uncomfortable. She felt coerced into signing a separation agreement she disagreed with. Given her concerns for her personal safety, an interim protective order was granted by the judge.