A Dublin man who subjected his wife to a three-year campaign of coercive control has been given a three-year suspended sentence.
Ian Barry (44), of the Ashes, Trimleston, Goatstown, was sent forward from the District Court on a signed guilty plea of coercive control on dates between 2019 and 2022 at another address in south Dublin.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Barry, a senior software engineer, was verbally abusive towards the victim, calling her a ‘liar’ and names including ‘Adolf’.
He also subjected the woman to physical violence by throwing objects at her and exerted financial control over her, forcing her to account for every penny she spent.
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The woman was occasionally given a bank card to use to buy groceries, but Barry directed a set amount for her to spend. She also had to return with four bags of groceries and Barry would inspect the receipts.
In 2019, Barry insisted that the woman use the income from her new part-time job to pay for their groceries instead of the bank card. He also sought to control and monitor her movements into and out of their then home.
The couple were married for 17 years, but are now separated, the court heard.
Sentencing Barry on Friday, Judge Martin Nolan said it was a “close run thing” but he had decided not to jail him.
He said he made this decision to give Barry a chance due to mitigating factors, including his previous good record.
“If you harass your wife or in any way make her life miserable, you’ll be brought back to this court and you won’t escape that time,” the judge told Barry.
He said the man’s “behaviour was disgraceful” and “you have a lot to make up for”.
He handed down a three-year sentence and suspended it on a number of conditions.
The court heard that after their relationship ended in early 2022, and Barry had left their home, he continued to use a Ring doorbell camera to monitor the house. He accessed it 32 times in one day but the woman later removed it.
Garda Ciara Larkin told Emer Ní Chúagáin BL, prosecuting, the victim made a complaint to gardaí in late 2022.
She outlined a pattern of coercive control in the final years of the relationship, saying it began with Barry calling her names and using abusive language towards her.
He also used threatening behaviour, including raising his fist, or leaning forward as if to headbutt her, though he did not follow through on these threats.
Barry would be verbally abusive in some situations including if he was not happy with meals or considered the house untidy. When the woman expressed concerns, Barry told her to “f**k off, no one was listening”, the court heard.
Garda Larkin outlined four specific instances of physical violence by Barry towards his then-wife between 2019 and 2022.
The woman said she had to ask Barry’s permission to leave the house to meet her sister and he would often become verbally abusive. The court heard that on multiple occasions, Barry would ask “what’s in it for me” as an attempt to exchange sex for permission to leave the house.
The injured party told gardaí she consented to sex in these situations as a way to placate him when he did not want her to leave the house.
Barry was voluntarily interviewed by gardaí in July 2023 and denied the allegations of coercive control. He said he was “not a perfect husband” but added that he “hadn’t done anything to warrant being in a garda station”.
He said he had “never laid a finger” on the woman and when asked about specific instances, Barry described them as accidents.
Garda Larkin agreed with Silvia-Maria Crowley BL, defending, that her client co-operated with the investigation.
Ms Crowley said her client was under financial stress at the time and worried about a debt of around €85,000. Her client did not recognise his actions at the time as coercive control, but now realises his behaviour was “intolerable”, she added.
