A woman who was subjected to coercive control and repeated sexual abuse by her husband during the lockdown has told a court about the “permanent scars” left by the experience.
She told the Central Criminal Court that her husband carried out a “prolonged campaign of domination” that ultimately resulted in him raping her in June 2021, reports Breaking News.
The man cannot be identified in order to protect the woman’s identity. The couple met in 2001, have several children and are now separated.
The man had admitted guilt to assault causing harm and three incidents of sexual assault. He denied rape, coercive control and multiple further sexual assault charges, but was later convicted by a Central Criminal Court jury on the remaining counts, reports Breaking News.
The offending occurred on a number of occasions between August 2020 and June 2021.
The court heard that the man worked in the technology sector and began working from home in March 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown, reports Breaking News.
He went on sick leave from August 2020. While there had already been “a lot of difficulties” in the marriage, matters escalated that month when he threatened to tell her church pastor and family about his wife’s vibrator and “what sort of woman she was”.
She later told gardaí this threat was “the final straw” and that she decided she wanted to separate. She told the court the home had become an atmosphere of control and fear, reports Breaking News.
On August 8th, 2020, he slapped her forcefully across the face in front of their sons and called her a “stupid mother who couldn’t control her children”, reports Breaking News.
“I concluded that leaving was necessary for the physical and psychological safety of myself and my children,” she told the court in her victim impact statement.
Despite this, the couple continued living together and in the months that followed the man repeatedly sexually assaulted the woman, often while their children were present in the same room, reports Breaking News.
The court heard the woman felt the abuse was relentless and that it made no difference how many times she told him ‘no’.
The man regularly told her she could not fight nature. On June 6th, 2021, he sexually assaulted and raped his wife, reports Breaking News.
Afterwards, he asked why she was walking oddly and she replied “you really hurt me” and said she did not consent to the sexual acts. He responded by saying: “you are my wife” and “if you didn’t fight it, it wouldn’t hurt”, reports Breaking News.
The woman went to gardaí later that day and reported the rape along with the other sexual assaults and assaults.
She told Mr Justice Paul McDermott that the rape was “the apex of a prolonged campaign of domination” that had steadily escalated over the previous year. She said she endured “profoundly traumatic and intimate violations” that have “altered the architecture of our lives, leaving permanent scars”, reports Breaking News.
She said she has been diagnosed with PTSD and struggles with hypervigilance, intrusive memories and a constant sense of anxiety. She said her husband’s actions “systematically dismantled my identity”.
Mr Justice McDermott imposed consecutive prison sentences totalling nine-and-a-half years, reports Breaking News.
He suspended the final 18 months of the sentence on strict conditions, including that the man engage with the Probation Service upon release and have no direct or indirect contact with his former wife. He was also placed under a four-year post-release supervision order.
Mr Justice McDermott said the offending amounted to “a severe breach of trust”, noted that the woman was isolated due to Covid and said the man “undermined her feeling of safety and security in her own home”, reports Breaking News.
The judge said the man showed “total disregard for his wife’s consent” and that the offences were both “humiliating and degrading”.
“He deprived her of her autonomy and her right to say no,” Mr Justice McDermott said, adding that the man appeared to regard intimacy with his wife as “an entitlement”, reports Breaking News.
He acknowledged that the man now accepts the jury’s verdicts but said a letter handed to the court during the sentencing hearing did not appear to reflect that position.
As a result, he said it was difficult to see the remorse as “sincere”. “I am not convinced he has any real insight,” Mr Justice McDermott said, reports Breaking News.
The defendant has 10 previous convictions for breaching barring orders relating to his wife, on dates between February 2021 and February 2022.
Padraig Dwyer SC, defending, said his client accepts the jury verdicts and is remorseful. He has undergone counselling and said the offending occurred during lockdown when many families were “cooped up” together for long periods of time, reports Breaking News.
“These people built a family together and all was well. There was a change of events, and they both ended up in this situation.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, use text and webchat services via drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help, reports Breaking News.
Safe Ireland also provides a range of local services and helplines at safeireland.ie/get-help/where-to-find-help/. In an emergency, always dial 999 or 112.
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