Man on cocktail of drink and cocaine burst girlfriend's eardrum in 'baseless' beating
A young Dublin man who burst his girlfriend's eardrum in a “baseless” beating which left her vomiting for a whole night will be sentenced in April.
Garda Ronan Goggin revealed that Aaron Nolan (21) had punched, kicked and pulled clumps out of his then girlfriend's hair as he dragged her over a green area and down laneways.
The garda agreed with Brian Gageby BL, defending, that Nolan committed the assault on a “baseless” idea that his girlfriend had been texting another man.
The woman told gardaí that every time she denied this, Nolan got angrier and would assault her further.#
Nolan, of The Glen Woodpark, Ballinteer, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two charges of assaulting the then 19-year-old woman at Ballinteer Crescent, Ballinteer, on November 5, 2017. He has no previous convictions.
Gda Goggin told Katherine McGillicuddy BL, prosecuting, that the woman described how Nolan had appeared very drunk when she initially met him at his friend's house to sort out the issue.
Nolan destroyed the woman's handbag items by ripping them up and scattering them about the green area and prevented her from seeking help at neighbouring houses with threats and violence.
At one stage during the assault another woman approached, but Nolan told this witness to mind her own business. Gda Goggin said another man recorded some of the incident on his phone and later handed this to investigators.
The attack ended when Nolan dragged the woman to his own family home and his relatives intervened.
The court heard the woman didn't recognise herself in the bathroom mirror of this house, because her face was so swollen, her hair was matted with blood and her nose and lip were burst.
She eventually went home and spent the remaining early hours and into the next day in her bedroom vomiting and in severe pain.
In a victim impact statement, read out by Ms McGillicuddy, the woman stated that she doesn't talk about what happened and is a lot quieter now. She revealed she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, neck pain and that her hearing is not the same.
She said she was “happy and trusting" before that night but now she feels trapped in her own head with the memory and can't understand why the attack happened.
Gda Goggin said Nolan admitted in interview that he had been intoxicated and that he was “shocked and ashamed” and felt sick when he saw photos of the injuries he had inflicted. He told gardaí he was heartbroken as he loved the woman.
Gda Goggin agreed with Mr Gageby that his client revealed he had been taking alcohol and cocaine on the night.
He agreed that Nolan had not attended for assessment by The Probation Service, saying this was a surprise given that he has abided by his bail conditions and made admissions. The garda said he thought Nolan seemed to be “fatalistic about what was going to happen”.
Judge Melanie Greally told Mr Gageby that his client was “justified in his sense of fatalism” but that she needed assistance from The Probation Service.
She remanded Nolan in custody and adjourned the matter till April, when she will hear a defence plea in mitigation.
