Man punched and kicked his partner

Barry Shields from Summerhill, Banbridge pleaded guilty last week to common assault on 28 February on a female.

The court heard that Shields is a former soldier who served in Kosovo, and has been suffering from Post Traumatic Disorder since 2002.

However District Judge Mr Paul Copeland told the 30-year-old that there will come a time when he has to take full responsibility for the consequences of what he does.

Shields was placed on Probation for two years and as a condition of the order he must take part in a Domestic Abuse Programme.

He was warned by Mr Copeland that if he doesn't complete this successfully, he will consider sending him to jail.

Mr Copeland also directed that Shields pay his victim 1,000 compensation. He was allowed 20 weeks to pay this sum and told that if he didn't he would serve 28 days in jail.

The court heard how police arrived at an address in Summerhill, Banbridge in the early hours of 28 February. The injured party was found in an extremely distressed and agitated state. She had a swollen cut to her lip and her left eye was also swollen. She said the defendant had punched her in the head area and also kicked her.

seriousness

Solicitor Ms Carson said her client appreciated the seriousness of the charge. She explained that there had been a dispute which had arisen earlier on the night in question.

"He had been told that his kids would be taken away. He left the house to avoid a confrontation and went to a local pub and consumed alcohol. When he went back there were no kids there. This inflamed the situation as he thought the children had been taken away. The argument became physical and violent."

Ms Carson said her client's offending began in 2002 when he was struggling with his emotional and mental health. This manifested in the abuse of alcohol."

She said Shields had already taken steps to address this by attending anger management classes and having no alcohol since March.

District Judge Mr Paul Copeland said the court takes a very serious view of offending involving the abuse of spouses, partners or girlfriends by male partners.

He said, "When this takes place in the safety of their own homes then it is significantly worse."

He told Shields, "Your partner has suffered long and hard enough as a result of this. You should go to prison but I have been told you have made positive steps to addressing issues which surround all of this and you are getting support.

"I have no desire to send a father to prison, but in spite of your traumatic history involving your military service, there will come a time when you have to take full responsibility for the consequences of what you do."