Man in “complicated relationship” with married woman who he bit in the buttocks must go to prison

A judge has sentenced a burglar to a 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.

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

Gooney's lawyer Daragh Hassett asked Judge Gabbett for a suspended sentence given the “complicated relationship” between Gooney and the woman.

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

Judge Gabbett said he could not suspend the sentence and had considered a term longer than one month.

“It was a human bite and human bites are very serious,” the judge said.

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

Judge Gabbett said he also took into account the woman's “powerful” victim impact statement she gave in court.

“That's what happens when you get into complicated relationships. Things get complicated,” the judge said.

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 Gooney then left the house.

Garda Troy said 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 Gooney pulled her out the door by the wrist.

Garda Troy said the woman fell “and he bit her on the right buttock. She got up again and as she entered the house he followed her and bit her on the right shoulder and pushed her against the dishwasher and ironing machine.”

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

The lawyer said the parties had a brief relationship and stated that 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.”

“That evening, Mr Gooney crossed the line very seriously and his behavior was unacceptable. There were certain signs that he thought he was getting to the point where the two of them had had a relationship before.”

The lawyer said his client “ultimately had to block the lady on the phone after their brief encounter. That does not explain or justify his behavior on the night in question. He crossed significant boundaries. He accepts that.”

He added: “He deeply regrets what happened. He wants to move on with his life. There is important context to what happened – it is not a case of someone randomly walking into a house and trying 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.

The lawyer said Gooney works six days a week. He said he will not go near that family again.

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

“At one point in the encounter he was not welcome in the house and it seems he was told that. The boundaries were unclear everywhere. It's 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.