Dublin man jailed for assaulting then-partner after night out with colleagues

Peter Monks (32), of Brega Hamlet, Hamlet Lane, Balbriggan, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to his then partner at their home in Balbriggan on November 30, 2019. He has 20 previous convictions.

Passing sentence today, Judge Martin Nolan said the facts in this case were that Monks assaulted his then partner in a serious way, which caused her serious stress.

Judge Nolan said he had been “asked by counsel not to imprison him”.

Judge Nolan said he deserved a prison sentence and sentenced him to two years in prison but suspended the final sixteen months.

Garda Eoin O’Reilly told the court that Monks arrived home intoxicated at approximately 5am after a night out with colleagues. When his partner opened the door to him, Monks attacked her by punching, kicking, biting her and pulling a clump of her hair out.

Gda O’Reilly said the woman ran to a neighbour's house, where she waited for several hours. When she returned to the house, Monks was sleeping but woke and threw a shoe towards her but missed.

The court heard that the woman later made a complaint to gardaí stating that she had been assaulted the previous day.

Gardaí could see bruises on the woman and took a statement. The woman left but returned to the garda station later, saying the accused was at her address and she didn’t want him there. Gardaí went to the house in Balbriggan and arrested Monks and brought him to the garda station for interview.

During the interview, Monks said he was out the night before and had a lot to drink. He said he went home sometime after 2am and his partner let him into the house. He said he couldn’t remember anything else but woke up in his child’s bed, and his partner was not there.

When Monks was shown pictures of the injuries sustained by his then partner, he said: “No way it was me”.

Gda O’Neill agreed with Marc Thompson BL, defending, that Monks has been in regular contact with his ex-partner since the assault and spoke with her on the phone one day ago.

Mr Thompson said time in custody had been a wake-up call for his client as he was sleeping in a cell with four others and on a mattress on the floor.

Counsel said the injured party had made a full recovery and that she had been in an on-and-off relationship with his client since the incident.

He asked the court to take into account the mental health issues of his client and the contents of a letter written by Monks’ sister, which outlined his suicide attempt as well as his guilty plea.