Man attacked babysitter in jealous rage while drunk

Andrew Phelan

A DUBLIN man was in a jealous rage with his partner over a relationship she had started when he attacked her sister, who was babysitting for them.

Rory Conroy (31) had returned home from a night out when he flung the frightened woman onto the stairs and gripped her by the throat.

He was given a four-month suspended sentence at Dublin District Court after he admitted an assault charge.

UNSAVOURY

Judge Catherine Murphy suspended the sentence for a year after remarking that it had been a "very unsavoury incident".

Conroy, an electrician, of The Cherry Blossoms, Killinacourt, Portarlington, Co Laois, pleaded guilty to assaulting Janette Stewart at Templeview Downs, Clarehall in north Dublin.

The court heard the incident happened on February 10, 2013. Garda Joan Fitzpatrick said she was called to the Clarehall address at 3.30am.

Ms Stewart said she had been babysitting for her sister Emma and her partner, the accused. Conroy had returned home drunk and assaulted the victim, flinging her onto the stairs and grabbing her by the throat.

She was "put in a lot of fear" and suffered red marks on her neck, swelling and grazes to her right elbow and knee.

The defendant had six previous convictions including for trespassing on a building and causing criminal damage.

The incident happened at a time when Conroy was going through "extremely emotional disturbances", his solicitor Alice O'Reilly said.

"He was jealous when the mother of his children formed a relationship with someone else and it took him a long time to get it out of his system," she said.

The accused was now working and prepared to pay compensation if given time. Ms Stewart told the court she had not had any medical expenses arising from the assault.

Judge Murphy said it was a "very unsavoury incident indeed". She warned that she would jail Conroy if he was convicted of any criminal offence in the next year.

WARNED

The accused had denied charges of assaulting the mother of his children, Emma Stewart, and damaging a child's scooter, safety gates and a laptop and mobile phone in the same incident.

Those charges were all withdrawn by Emma Stewart on the morning the case was due to be heard.

Asked why she was withdrawing her complaint, she said it was because she had seen "how much (Conroy) has changed". He had gone for anger management counselling, was back in work and "doing really good".

hnews@herald.ie