A man has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison for an assault and burglary in Killorglin.
28-year-old Emmet McCarthy, formerly of 114 Iveragh Park Killorglin, and originally from Kildare, was sentenced at Tralee Circuit Court.
He pleaded guilty to two counts, in relation to the incidents, which occurred on December 3rd and 4th last year, and was convicted of the offences.
The court heard evidence from Garda James Lenihan; who outlined that on the afternoon of December 3rd, Mr McCarthy entered a premises in Killorglin, where he assaulted the victim in their place of work.
Garda Lenihan said the assault was fully captured on CCTV. He said from here Mr McCarthy entered a public house.
The court heard that in the early hours of December 4th, Mr McCarthy trespassed on the victims property.
The victim awoke to find Mr McCarthy standing over her, he proceeded to shout profanity’s and produced and smashed a wine bottle, and used it in a threatening way.
During the incident Mr McCarthy took a number of keys.
The victim fled to a neighbors property, but was followed by Mr McCarthy into the house, where he further assaulted her.
The court heard that the incident left the victim with swelling to the face, bruising about the body and soft tissue tenderness.
Barrister Katie O’Connell said her client, Emmet McCarthy, was remorseful and ashamed of the incident.
She noted he had no previous convictions and has an excellent work history. She added Mr McCarthy has serious addiction issues and wishes to address these.
Ms O Connell noted that Mr McCarthy cooperated fully with the gardaí throughout and pleaded guilty at an early stage.
Judge Sinéad Behan said it was a very serious incident, and while the victim has made a full physical recovery, she has ongoing psychological issues as a result.
She noted a number of mitigating factors; and sentenced Mr McCarthy to three and a half years for assault and two and a half years for burglary, with the sentences to run concurrently.
The sentence was backdated to December the 4th last, with the final twelve months suspended.
This is on the condition that he follows addiction and treatment services, engages with the probation service and keeps the peace for two years upon release.
