A 50-year-old man has been given a fully suspended sentence for kicking his partner in the head and breaking her jaw while she held their young son.

The father-of-two, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had pleaded guilty to common assault. He was initially accused of assault and damage, but the Director of Public Prosecutions accepted the plea.

The defendant traveled from his home in mainland Europe to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to face the charge on Monday. His victim was also present in court.

The court heard the couple had a two-year-old son when he attacked her at their home on September 10, 2010.

The woman was sitting on the couch with her son in her arms when they began to argue. The man then kicked him hard on the right side of his face.

After putting her son to bed, she went to the hospital, where she underwent surgery for a broken jaw.

She left the relationship 12 months later and has sole custody of their son. Her attacker moved abroad, where she now has another child with a new partner.

He reported the attack to An Garda Síochána in 2021. The accused was arrested in 2022 at Dublin Airport and there is currently a security warrant in place.

A victim impact statement was given to the court, but the woman did not want to read it out loud.

The court heard that the man has no other convictions and had offered €2,000 compensation to his victim. However, she did not want to accept it.

His lawyer said the man has a work history and is also a volunteer in his local area.

A reference from his current partner was also given to the court. He said his offense was misplaced and there was no violence in their relationship.

Judge Orla Crowe said the fact the woman was his intimate partner at the time and was holding his child were aggravating factors.

He said a considerable amount of force must have been used to break his jaw.

Judge Crowe noted in the victim impact statement that he had never apologized.

“That’s a surprising feature in relation to this,” he said. “The sum of money was rejected. “What she seemed to have wanted all along was an apology.”

The judge noted that the victim had suffered physical and psychological effects, that she had to pay 500 euros in medical bills, suffered many nightmares since then and had to raise a child alone.

“The court cannot deny the seriousness of this,” he said.

He noted, however, that the accused had returned to Ireland to address this matter and had participated in the process.

Noting that the maximum sentence was six months in prison, he imposed a sentence of three months and two weeks, before suspending it “in its entirety.”

Although the victim did not want to accept the 2,000 euros, the judge ordered that she be paid 500 euros to cover her medical expenses.

The judge also gave her 30 days to decide whether she wanted to accept the rest of the sum and, if she did not, ordered her to pay it to a women’s shelter.