Sentence for man who coercively controlled and assaulted teenage girlfriend too low, State argues

Fiona Magennis

The 12-month sentence handed down to a man who coercively controlled and repeatedly assaulted his teenage girlfriend was too low and should be increased, the State has argued.

Gavin Lawlor (24) attacked the 18-year-old victim in a series of incidents, which included punches and slaps to the head and face and on one occasion involved him locking her in a room.

He also removed her SIM card so she couldn’t contact her parents and monitored her movements.

Lawlor, with a previous address at Pairc Cluain, Mulgannon, Wexford, pleaded guilty in June 2024 to eight counts of assault causing harm and one count of coercive and controlling behaviour on dates between March 2021 and March 2022.

In April 2025, Judge James McCourt at Wexford Circuit Court sentenced him to two years in prison with the final 12 months suspended.

The maximum sentence for each offence was one of five years’ imprisonment.

Lawlor’s sentencing hearing was told that the injured party made complaints to gardaí in September 2021, but resumed the relationship before again going to gardaí in April the following year.

Across the two statements, she detailed assaults that included punches and slaps to the head and face as well as various threats and insults.

On one occasion, he locked her in a room. In a later assault, he punched her in the left eye and struck her multiple times on her back, causing bruises.

On another occasion he began assaulting her in a pub and continued when they got home.

Lawlor was 20 when the offending began, and the woman had just turned 18, the Court of Appeal heard onTuesday.

Launching an appeal against the undue leniency of Lawlor’s prison term on Tuesday, counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions,

Edward O’Mahony BL, argued the sentencing judge had made an error by failing to place the offences at the appropriate point of the scale of severity, particularly the coercive control offence.

He said the judge had also erred by failing to place sufficient weight on the aggravating factors, particularly that one set of offences had been committed while Lawlor was on bail for charges relating to the same victim and the fact that the parties had been in an intimate relationship.

O’Mahony said the judge set a headline sentence of three years on all counts which he then reduced to two years after mitigation and indicated that all the sentences were to be concurrent before suspending the final 12 months to incentivise rehabilitation.

The barrister said the “cumulative effect” of the reduction and the suspension of 12 months, coupled with the fact that the sentences were not consecutive, “renders the sentence unduly lenient”.

As Lawlor was on bail when he committed the second set of offences, there was a mandatory requirement that his sentences be consecutive, O'Mahony said.

In response, Ronan Kennedy SC, representing Lawlor, said the judge had adopted a global approach in what was “complex matter” given the number of assaults involved, the age of both parties and the fact that his client was a person of “low intellectual functioning”.

He said all of the aggravating factors had been identified and discussed by the judge.

He said Lawlor hadn’t come to the attention of gardaí after the second set of offences and at the time of sentencing he was holding down a job, had an apartment and was attending counselling.

“He was apologetic and remorseful so in my submission, there was ample evidence to encourage rehabilitation, and rehabilitation has to be considered a very important aspect in a case like this,” said Kennedy.

He said the judge had been correct in adopting a “carrot and stick” approach when imposing a sentence.

The barrister said Lawlor had also been ordered to repay €2,000 to the complainant.

He said €1,500 has already been paid, and his client was “making efforts to repay the balance” having obtained a job in retail since his release from custody in December.

John Edwards said it was “concerning” that Lawlor was deemed to be at high risk of reoffending.

He directed a probation report be prepared and adjourned matters to May 5th.

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.