A MAN ACCUSED of raping his wife allegedly told her “I’m going to finish this tonight” before hitting her over the head with a hammer the next day.
The jury has already heard accusations that the 42 year old raped his wife after refusing to accept their marriage was over.
He allegedly told her “I can rape you if I want” and threatened to cut her face open with a knife.
Yesterday, the woman told the jury at the Central Criminal Court that the accused would frequently ring her and claim to know where she was.
She said she was on holidays in Spain with their young child when he rang and said he knew she was the beach. On another occasion he knew that she was in a Dublin park and claimed he had someone following her.
Location apps installed on phone
She told Mary Rose Gearty SC, prosecuting, that she was terrified and was convinced there was someone waiting for her in the park. Afterwards she checked her phone’s setting and discovered apps had been installed without her knowledge and the “location services” setting had been turned on.
The accused has pleaded not guilty to rape, assault causing harm and five counts of threats to kill or cause serious harm between 24 May and 1 August 2014. The jury heard he has already pleaded guilty to a count of assaulting his wife with a hammer in August 2014.
The woman said she was subject to several instances of intimidation and threats in the days after she took out a barring order on the accused.
On June 8 2014 she said her husband phoned her and demanded to see their child. When she refused he allegedly responded, “I’m coming to the house now. I’m coming to get you. I’m sick of this.”
She said the next day she was driving to work when he tried to get into her car. She managed to drive away but was again confronted by the accused in a supermarket later that day. He demanded to see their son and tried to grab her keys from her, she alleged.
She said that as she was driving away, the accused was following her and crashed into the back of her car at the traffic lights. The child was in the back of her car. She called gardaí who said they would come to her house to take a statement.
More threats
On a later occasion the man allegedly grabbed the woman’s arm when they met to arrange access visits for their child. She said he told her “you want to drop all this barring order stuff because I’m going to do you serious damage”.
On 6 August 2014, he allegedly told the woman over the phone:
I am sick of this, I’m going to finish this tonight.
The woman said she told him if he came near the house she would call the gardaí.
Ms Gearty told the jury the accused has already pleaded guilty to hitting the woman over the head with a hammer the next day.
The trial continues before Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy and a jury of 11 men and one woman.
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