Pasare said at first that the woman's injuries were self-inflicted but later admitted he had caused them.

A ROMANIAN man who told his partner he would stop beating her with a belt if she let him gouge her eye out with a bread knife has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Gheorge Pasare (28) had initially pleaded not guilty to a "sadistic" attack on the 30-year-old Irish woman -- but moments before the trial was due to begin he pleaded guilty to the assault committed on December 7 last and admitted the facts in the other two charges.

The court heard that Pasare, who lives with his brother at Rahylin Glebe, Ballybane, Galway, had been with the woman for nine months last year and during that time he had repeatedly assaulted the mother-of-two, believing she would never report him to gardai.

He pleaded guilty to assaulting the woman causing her harm on three occasions at the woman's home in Tirellan Heights, Headford Road, Galway on August 6, November 20, and December 7 last year.

She suffered a fractured nose, wrist and eye socket during the series of assaults.

The woman complained to gardai on December 7 after Pasare had fractured her eye socket and threatened to gouge out her eye the night before. He had also beaten her with his belt that night, stripped her and threatened to sexually assault and kill her, the court was told.

The woman told gardai she and Pasare had been out socialising on December 6 and she believed he became jealous following a comment made to her by a bouncer as they entered a nightclub.

She said that when they got home Pasare removed his belt and hit her about the face and head with it. He knocked her to the floor and repeatedly punched her. He dragged her to the bedroom and sat on top of her on the bed and attempted to choke her.

He made threats to sexually assault and kill her and ripped off her top and bra. He then allowed her to put on a cardigan and go into the kitchen before smashing her head off a work top. He knocked her on to the kitchen floor and sat on top of her again and continued to punch her. She found a small knife on the floor and pointed it at him but he grabbed it, broke it in half and threw it in the bin.

"He then took a bread knife from a drawer and placed it at her right eye and said the assault would stop if she allowed him to take her eye out," a garda said in evidence.

Blade

The victim told gardai that she had to grab the blade to keep it away from her eye and in doing so cut her hand badly.

Pasare then realised she was in a lot of pain and he got off her and went to the bedroom.

She ran out the front door but he grabbed her by the hair and dragged her back to the house.

The accused had fractured the woman's wrist during an assault in August and she was due to have an operation to repair it on December 8. He twisted the affected wrist during the December 7 assault and she screamed in excruciating pain, the court was told.

The victim eventually escaped and ran to a neighbour's house for help. She was brought to A&E where x-rays showed a fractured right eye socket. The court heard the woman had suffered a fractured nose when Pasare punched her in the face on another occasion.

Pasare was arrested on December 13 and admitted the offences to gardai. He apologised and said he suffered from jealous rages.

Photographs of the bruising and other injuries, including a cigarette burn, sustained by the woman were shown to Judge Gerard Griffin.

Pasare said at first that the woman's injuries were self-inflicted but later admitted he had caused them. Gary Brennan, defending, said the couple had been in a volatile relationship, adding they had shared a bottle of whiskey on the evening of the December assault.

Mr Brennan said that when gardai called to the woman's house that night both she and Pasare were very drunk.

Imposing a maximum five-year sentence yesterday with the final two-and-a-half years suspended, Judge Griffin said these had been a very cruel, callous and sadistic assaults.

In mitigation, he said, the accused had spared the victim -- who was terrified of him -- from giving evidence.

Judge Griffin backdated the sentence to December 13 last, when the accused was taken into custody and he suspended the final half of the sentence on condition Pasare keep the peace for five years, have no contact whatsoever with the victim, not come within 500 metres of her and provide an address to gardai on his release from prison.

Women's Aid director Margaret Martin said they don't comment on individual cases, but added: "Many women who are attacked by their partners are told that no one will believe them and that they are to blame for the abuse. They live in fear of further violence if they try to end the relationship."

She urged any woman who is a victim of domestic violence to contact gardai or the Women's Aid freephone helpline.

Irish Independent