Man (20s) who assaulted girlfriend and threatened her to drop charges jailed for six years

Isabel Hayes

A criminal with a history of violence who assaulted his girlfriend over a prolonged period and held a blade to her throat before sending her threats from prison to drop the charges, has been jailed for six years.

Patrick Byrne (28), formerly of Cooleven Close, Cloverhill Road, Dublin, has 44 convictions and was jailed for two years and nine months last November after he assaulted a man in the city centre with a bike saddle in an unprovoked assault.

He has four previous convictions for assault causing harm, along with convictions for theft, domestic violence, drugs and threat to kill offences, Garda Natasha Martin told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on a previous date.

On Monday, Judge Pauline Codd handed down a six-year jail term for the offences, which is not to commence until March 2026 when the sentence he is serving is spent.

Judge Codd noted from a probation report before the court that while Byrne “does express some remorse,” she said “he lacks insight” which is something he needs to further address.

The court heard that Byrne assaulted his then partner several times in the course of a two-day period in February 2024, whipping her with a broom handle, holding a Stanley blade to her throat and threatening to slit her throat, kicking and hitting her, smashing up the house and upending a wardrobe, causing a television to fall on her.

He repeatedly told the woman he would kill her, screamed abuse at her, spat in her face and closed the blinds in the house so no one could see in. The woman could not escape as Byrne had both sets of house keys and had locked the door. She eventually managed to escape when he fell asleep, and she was able to get the keys.

She ran to a neighbour's house, where an ambulance and gardaí were called. Byrne was arrested at a later date.

He pleaded guilty to one count of assault causing harm, one count of production of a broom handle in the course of a dispute and one count of making a threat to kill at an address in Clondalkin. A number of other counts were taken into consideration. The offences occurred on dates between February 11th and 12th, 2024.

While in custody, Byrne started texting and phoning the woman from two different phone numbers. The court heard the texts started out in a loving nature, with talks of reconciliation, but then turned threatening after Byrne found out the woman had started a new relationship.

He urged the woman to drop the charges against him, calling her a “snake” and a “dirty rat”.

“You drop them charges or you're going to have a dirty scar for the rest of your life,” he texted her.

Byrne pleaded guilty to one count of threatening a witness in criminal proceedings on dates between April 11th and May 20th, 2024. The woman reported Byrne to gardaí in July 2024. There was no victim impact statement before the court.

Judge Codd observed on the last date that Byrne appeared to be “amused” by the text messages as they were read out in court, to which he replied: “No” from the dock.

Mark Lynam SC, defending, said Byrne started taking drugs from a young age, and his life spiralled when he was a teenager after he discovered his biological father was a different person to the man he considered his father.

Mr Lynam said Byrne and the complainant were in a relationship for about two years, and it was “toxic”, “chaotic”, and “volatile” with both of them abusing drugs and alcohol. Byrne is remorseful and upset about his actions, defence counsel said.

Byrne has a history of violence and is aware he “needs to get a handle on his behaviour”, Mr Lynam said. He asked the court to order a probation report to get a greater insight into how Byrne can make progress upon his eventual release from custody.

Judge Codd said Byrne “clearly has horrendous anger issues”, noting the level of violence he acted out on the woman.

On the last hearing date in May, Judge Codd ordered urine analysis, a governor's report and a probation report before adjourning the matter for sentence.

Judge Codd noted Byrne was under the influence of substances and was at high risk of reoffending, but noted he was willing to engage with a MOVE (men overcoming violent emotions) course.

She said the aggravating factors included that it happened in the injured party’s home, the level of violence, the nature of the violence in that he spit in her face, used threats in the course of the abuse and called her “all sorts of despicable names”.

Judge Codd also noted he produced a Stanley knife, holding it to her throat and said “knife for life”. She noted the victim had a bruise to her right eye and a bruise to her left temple because he punched her in the face.

The judge also noted it was an aggravating factor that it was male violence against a female.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact Women’s Aid (24-hour freephone helpline at 1800-341 900, email helpline@womensaid.ie) or Men’s Aid Ireland (confidential helpline at 01-554 3811, email hello@mensaid.ie) for support and information. 

Safe Ireland also offers a number of local services and helplines at safeireland.ie/get-help/where-to-find-help/. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.