'Violent individual' imprisoned for breaking pregnant partner’s jaw in Limerick

A MAN who broke his partner’s jaw, forcing her to lose two teeth, has been sentenced to five years and three months' imprisonment.

John McCarthy, with an address at Kilmurry View, Dublin Road, Castletroy, Limerick, was charged with assaulting his partner at the time in her home on March 30, 2025. Limerick Circuit Court heard that the man was drinking with two other men while the victim was at home.

Prosecuting Barrister for the State, John O’Sullivan, detailed between 6-7pm Mr McCarthy “falsely accused the victim of going off with one of the men”, kicked her in the thigh twice, slapped her in the face, and held her by the throat, which caused her to lose consciousness.

When the woman later regained consciousness, the men had left, and Mr McCarthy was drinking and listening to music.

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The man’s assault on her fractured her jaw and caused her to lose two teeth. The court heard the hospital required her to have surgery to fix her jaw.

At the hospital, pictures were taken of her injuries - which also included bruising on her thigh.

The woman checked herself into a domestic violence shelter. While she was there, she received a threatening call from McCarthy, where he called her “a handicap”, and said “you know what kind I am”. The court heard this put her in fear, and she reported the man to gardaí.

The woman’s victim impact statement said that Mr McCarthy’s actions “forced me to leave my family home for months” and left her “a shell of the person I was”. The statement said “My sisters had to see me in hospital recovering from jaw surgery” from the violent assault, and that the woman now suffers from panic attacks and flashbacks.

“I’m a shell of the person I was” and “I still feel pain to this day”, the statement read.

Barrister Amy Nix, defending Mr McCarthy, said in mitigation that the man is working at the prison's carpentry shop and is pursuing education.

Ms Nix detailed that Mr McCarthy has a "significant number of convictions all related to addiction”, and that when he committed the assault “he was in the throes of grief”. She asked the court to give him credit for this early plea.

“He has five little children”, she said.

Judge Colin Daly said in his sentencing that a mitigating factor was Mr McCarthy’s “mother died and his [different] partner delivered a still born child and took her own life”.

Judge Daly said when Mr McCarthy was accused he “denied” the relationship said the assault was a “fabrication”. The judge continued that the victim was pregnant at the time of this assault and that Mr McCarthy had been “irrationally possessive”.

Judge Daly said Mr McCarthy is “a violent individual”, that has a “relevant previous conviction for domestic violence”. The judge detailed that Mr McCarthy has 132 previous convictions.

Judge Daly proceeded to sentence John McCarthy to five years and three months’ prison, with the final 15 months suspended. The sentence was backdated to when Mr McCarthy first entered custody, June 2025.

-Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme