Laois man pleaded guilty to intimidating estranged wife
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AT the family law sitting of Portlaoise District Court last week, a man pleaded guilty to intimidating his estranged wife in the foyer of Portlaoise District Court while they were waiting on their case to be heard.
Garda Sgt JJ Kirby told the court that on 22 September 2025, the injured party contacted gardaí informing them that her 36-year-old husband had been passing remarks on her while she was wating in the courthouse foyer and said at one stage: “don’t talk to me you c**t.” On another occasion, said Sgt Kirby, as he was walking by her, he commented: “Look at that horrible c**t.” The man pleaded guilty to the charge of breaching a protection order.
Sgt Kirby said the man has no previous convictions.
The woman told Judge Susan Fay that she felt very intimidated at the time.
Defending barrister Andrew Dunne said his client “wants to express his apology for his behaviour. Family law proceedings can bring out the worst in people who are under a lot of pressure and a lot of stress.” The court heard that the woman has also a three-year safety order in place.
“One of the concerning things in this is that it happened in the courthouse,” said Judge Fay, adding that she noted the distress it had caused to the injured party.
She said: “These two people need to co-exist and to have respect for each other. The language on the day was appalling.” Judge Fay said she wanted an evaluation carried out on the defendant to determine the possibility of a similar incident ever happening in the future.
She remanded the man on continuing bail to the 14 May sitting of the court and in the meantime asked that the probation services carry out a report on him.
