A woman who was coercively controlled by her ex-boyfriend, a Garda in his 40s, has described him as a “monster” who tried to destroy her life.
She was speaking at his sentence hearing in Dublin today where the judge heard how he bombarded her with tens of thousands of vile and abusive messages.
Our Courts Correspondent Frank Greaney has this report, which some may find distressing:
The Garda can’t be named for legal reasons but that restriction may be lifted after his sentence hearing concludes tomorrow.
Today, the judge heard that 33,000 pieces of information were extracted from his phone during this investigation.
His desire for her to die a painful death was a recurring theme in his communications to her.
He also targeted her loved ones in an effort to isolate her from her support network.
The abuse began not long after they started seeing each other in 2017 and continued for the next three-and-a-half years.
During that time, he also threatened to kill her, assaulted her, caused damage to her home and car and took naked photos of her without her permission, which he threatened to post online if she didn’t do what he wanted.
In her victim impact statement, she said she feels much stronger nowadays and hopes her survival story will be an inspiration to others.
