One month in prison for burglar who bit a woman on the buttocks during a robbery at her East Clare home

A judge has sentenced a burglar to one month in prison for biting a married woman on the buttocks during a nighttime attack in her family home.

At Killaloe District Court in Ennis, Judge Alec Gabbett imposed two concurrent one-month prison sentences on Martin Gooney (27), of Riverview, Scariff, Co Clare, for the assault on the woman at an address in Whitegate, Co Clare, on December 22, 2022.

Mr Gooney had pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting the woman and one count of trespassing in her family home.

Mr Gooney's lawyer, Daragh Hassett, asked Judge Gabbett for a suspended sentence in view of what he described as the “complicated relationship” between Mr Gooney and the woman.

Mr Hassett said the two had a brief relationship, but the married woman denies this.

Judge Gabbett then stated that he could not grant a suspended sentence and had considered a prison sentence longer than one month.

He said: “It was a human bite and human bites are very serious.”

He said he had seen a photograph showing the bite mark on the buttocks.

Judge Gabbett said he had also taken into account the woman's “powerful” victim impact statement made to the court.

Judge Gabbett told the court: “This is what happens when you get into complicated relationships. Things get complicated.”

“This is a complication of a complicated relationship. There's nothing I can do about it.”

Describing the incident, Garda Aine Troy told the court that the assault in the woman's home only ended when the woman screamed, whereupon her eight-year-old son came down the stairs and Mr Gooney subsequently left the house.

Garda Troy said Mr Gooney had previously attempted to kiss the woman on her property, where he was trespassing.

Garda Troy said the woman opened the back door to ask him what he was doing and Mr Gooney grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her out the door.

Garda Troy said the woman fell “and he bit her on the right buttock. She got up and as she entered the house he followed her and bit her on the right shoulder and pushed her against the flushing and pressing unit.”

Mr Hassett said the guilty pleas were very valuable to the state and that the charges in this case had been significantly downgraded.

Mr Hassett said the parties had a brief relationship, explaining that Mr Gooney was “subsequently approached by the victim's husband in a pub where he told him in no uncertain terms that he had previously had a relationship with his wife”.

He said: “It's not as if the parties didn't know each other. The victim cannot accept that. I know as a fact that it happened.”

Mr Hassett said: “Mr Gooney crossed boundaries this evening and his behaviour was unacceptable.

He said: “There were certain signals that suggested he believed he was getting to the point where the two of them had been in a relationship before.”

Mr Hassett said his client “ultimately had to block this lady on the phone after their brief encounter.”

He said: “That does not explain or justify his behaviour on the night in question. He crossed significant boundaries. He accepts that.”

Mr Hassett added: “He deeply regrets what happened. He wants to move on with his life.”

He said: “There is an important context to what happened – it's not like someone just walks into a house and tries it on.”

Mr Hassett said: “Mr Gooney is a hard-working man. He fits the profile of a typical country boy – perhaps that is a very unfair profile these days – who leaves school early, works hard and party hard for a while.

Mr Hassett said Mr Gooney works six days a week. He said he would not go near that family again.

He said: “He used to be a hothead and alcohol didn't help him.”

He said: “At one point in the encounter he was not welcome in the house and it seems he was made aware of this. The boundaries were unclear everywhere.”

He said: “It is a very chaotic situation… The victim should not have had to experience what he experienced.

Mr Hassett said Mr Gooney had no criminal record and had not been charged with any offence since then. Mr Gooney was released on bail pending a hearing in the District Court to appeal against his sentence.