Man who burnt his ex-boyfriend with a cigarette avoids jail

Djair Carlos De Oliveira (27) also bit his ex's wrist and tried to stab the man's new partner with a kitchen knife.

He persisted in contacting the victim after they broke up, demanding answers as to why he ended the relationship. "I will destroy your life," he said.

De Oliveira continued to harass him with text messages while on bail.

The accused had been "bereft" at the split, and "took it extremely badly" when his ex started a new relationship, Dublin District Court heard.

Judge Dermot Dempsey yesterday gave him a one-year suspended sentence.

Suspending it for two years, he ordered De Oliveira to have no contact with the victim and to stay away from his home and workplace. He also fined him €100.

De Oliveira, from Brazil, admitted assaulting his ex-partner at Chancery Hall Apartments, Blackhall Place, on October 30, 2013 and producing a kitchen knife in a dispute at Blackhall Place.

He further admitted harassing the victim at various locations between June 3 and August 24, 2014 with hundreds of phone calls and text messages.

Destroy

He harassed the victim again between June 16 and September 7 last year, making phone calls and sending texts questioning his relationship status.

Defence solicitor Declan Fahy said his client was happy to abide by the conditions.

A garda sergeant previously told the court one of the texts read: "Why can't you answer me? I am going to destroy your life, I am going to Facebook your family."

The sergeant said the victim and his new partner were leaving a Spar shop when the accused grabbed him, refused to let go and "quenched his cigarette out" on his face, under his eye.

The victim's statement read that De Oliveira "bit me on the left wrist, which drew blood".

In the attempted stabbing, there was a scuffle in which De Oliveira produced a knife with a four-inch blade and "went for" the victim's new partner.

De Oliveira came to Ireland three years ago, was in college and hoped to become a nutritionist.

"He accepts his behaviour was entirely inappropriate," another defence solicitor, Yvonne Bambury, had said. "He felt genuinely bereft and upset at the loss of the relationship."

The accused, of North Circular Road, has since been diagnosed with OCD.