A Dublin woman who was punched in the eye by her former partner, leaving her vision permanently damaged, has told a court how her devastating injuries have affected every aspect of her life.
Stephanie Hoey (33) suffered a blow-out fracture to her eye socket when she was attacked by her ex-boyfriend Conor Murphy in her home in Clondalkin two years ago.
Ms Hoey required surgery to take bone from her hip to correct damage to her eye socket and cheekbone and has experienced PTSD and lasting nerve and muscle damage.
Murphy (23) of Edenmore Avenue, Coolock, Dublin 5, previously pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm in Clondalkin on August 20th, 2021. He also admitted to burglary and producing a knife on the same occasion.
Passing sentence on Thursday, Judge Orla Crowe said this was “an entirely unprovoked attack on a woman in her own home”.
Judge Crowe highlighted the injuries sustained by Ms Hoey, which included a left orbital blowout fracture which involved bone from her hip being used in her cheekbone. She said the injured party has been left with crippling migraines and will never get her full eyesight back, and it will continue to deteriorate.
The judge said there was a high level of “culpability”, which must be marked with a significant custodial sentence. She outlined that the maximum sentence available to her was life and set a headline sentence of 10 years. She took mitigating factors into consideration including his guilty plea, his very “contrite” letter of apology, his young age, his remorse, as well as letters handed in from the prison governor and his sister.
Judge Crowe sentenced Murphy to seven and a half years in prison and suspended the final 18 months. She placed him under the supervision of the Probation Services for one year post release and backdated the sentence to when he went into custody on this matter.
At an earlier hearing, Ms Hoey said in her victim impact statement to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court she said no words could describe how her life has been “torn apart” by Murphy.
Doctors have said her eyesight will never be the same and will continue to deteriorate, Ms Hoey said, adding that daily issues with her left eye are a painful reminder of her life-changing injuries.
Ms Hoey said she experiences constant flashbacks, nightmares, and panic attacks and that for a long time, she was afraid to leave her home but also afraid to stay in her home.
She said her daughter had missed out on two years of her childhood and experienced the same trauma as she had because the child was worried about her mother and how she was coping.
Ms Hoey said she has been, at times, unable to function and thanked her mother for taking over care for herself and her daughter. “She has been my lifeline,” Ms Hoey said.
Ms Hoey said she has been battling with her mental health, in particular PTSD, for the last two years and that her only sense of safety came when she was notified of Murphy’s arrest. “I could finally walk out my front door,” she said.
Garda Charles McPartland told Olan Callinan, BL, prosecuting, that Ms Hoey and Murphy were partners from 2018 to 2020 and briefly on and off thereafter.
The court heard that Murphy arrived at Ms Hoey’s house at 6am on the day in question and that it was clear he was not sober.
Ms Hoey invited him in and went back to bed until lunchtime to find Murphy still in the house, clearly agitated and punching his hand.
Ms Hoey later told gardaí that Murphy became more aggressive, and she tried to de-escalate the situation by asking him to go to the shop for an errand. Murphy returned to her house at around 5pm and put his foot in the door, forcing his way in.
Ms Hoey told gardaí that Murphy attacked her on entry, screaming at her and foaming at the mouth. He punched her full force into her left eye with a closed fist, and Ms Hoey fell backwards and briefly lost consciousness.
When Ms Hoey came to, Murphy was over her, grabbing her hair and hitting the back of her head off the ground. Ms Hoey said she managed to kick him off, run upstairs and phone a neighbour, who then called to the door.
Murphy grabbed a cheese knife and stood in between Ms Hoey and her neighbour, but Ms Hoey left the house with her neighbour, and the gardaí were called.
Murphy has five previous convictions from the District Court, including failure to appear, possessing drugs for sale or supply and possessing stolen property. He also has a conviction from Majorca for resisting an authority.
Gda McPartland agreed with Oisín Clarke, BL, defending, that Murphy was abusing drugs at the time of the offence.
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