A Kildare man who violently assaulted his ex-partner in a locked taxi for 10 minutes, leaving her with a permanent scar after repeated punches to her face, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Anthony Mockler (31), of Station Road, Kildare Town, pleaded guilty to a charge of intentionally causing serious harm to his former partner in a taxi on Basin Street, Naas, Co Kildare on November 5th, 2023.
He also pleaded guilty to false imprisonment of the woman and threatening to kill her during the same incident, as well as a separate charge of assault causing harm to a friend who came to her assistance.
A sitting of Naas Circuit Criminal Court heard the victim required over 40 stitches to her face, while the functioning of her mouth could also be affected by the extent of her injuries.
A plastic surgeon submitted a report which said she would have a scar which would be “visible forever”.
Mockler, a former Intel worker who is originally from Monasterevin, Co Kildare, also pleaded guilty to a series of charges of threatening to kill his victim on dates between October 23rd, 2023, and November 4th, 2023, and associated breaches of a safety order.
In a victim impact statement, the 28-year-old woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said she believed she was going to die during the assault.
“I know he intended to kill me that night,” she remarked.
The victim said Mockler had also threatened to ruin her looks so that nobody else would want her.
The woman told gardaí he called her a “wh*re” and “tramp” and said “die b*tch”, before adding: “This is for being with other men.”
The court heard the woman had been in a turbulent relationship with Mockler for four and a half years, which had been characterised by constant threats of violence and aggression.
She recalled her relationship with the accused changed very quickly after they started going out when he did not want her to see her friends or family.
Although she wanted to break off the relationship, the woman said she felt she had to continue with it after the accused said he would self-harm if they were not together.
'Drunk and raging'
Detective Garda Donna Walsh told the court last month that the woman and a friend had been out socialising in Naas when Mockler contacted her about going home together.
However, the woman informed him that she would make her own way home.
A taxi driver who had brought Mockler to Naas recalled that he was “drunk and raging”.
The accused spotted his ex-partner and got the taxi to follow her down Basin Street, where he jumped out and pulled her by the hair and arms into the taxi, which he then locked.
The woman’s friend had been hit on the head by Mockler when she tried to intervene.
Judge Martina Baxter said the accused had engaged in a “horrific and ferocious” assault during which he punched his ex-partner repeatedly while saying “you are going to die tonight”.
The judge observed that the woman was held captive in the taxi for around 10 minutes before gardaí arrived at the scene.
She said Mockler had displayed significant degrees of jealousy, adding that “sordid, vicious and distasteful,” text messages sent by him to his ex-partner were disturbing and concerning.
The court heard previously that he had threatened to kill the woman as well as her parents in the texts, while also calling her “a stupid ret*rd” and a “scumbag”.
Judge Baxter noted that Mockler claimed he had been acting in self-defence after he was arrested at the scene by gardaí, while maintaining he had only pushed his victim’s friend.
The judge said Mockler had attempted to minimise his own behaviour, while blaming everyone else for what happened.
He also claimed it was his victim’s fault that he felt suicidal.
He treated her like a possession to control and abuse in whatever fashion he wished.
The court heard Mockler had nine previous convictions, including one for burglary of his ex-partner’s family home.
Judge Baxter said the accused had persisted with his “angry, controlling and jealous” behaviour even after a safety order had been put in place in April 2022.
“He treated her like a possession to control and abuse in whatever fashion he wished,” the judge remarked.
She noted that he had a history of problems with alcohol which seemed to increase his propensity for violence and was assessed at being at a high risk of reoffending.
Although Mockler entered an early guilty plea for what the judge branded “a savage and cowardly attack in a confined space,” she observed that he was “essentially caught red-handed” after targeting his victim that night.
Judge Baxter said she did not accept Mockler’s remorse about what he did to someone he described as “my best and closest friend” as genuine as he was still appearing to place the fault and blame on what happened on others.
Sentencing the accused to 13 years in prison, the judge suspended the final two years on condition that he place himself under the supervision of the Probation Service on his release and be assessed for a domestic violence treatment programme.
Other conditions imposed by the court were that he has no contact or any form of communication with his victim and remains free from alcohol and drugs.
Judge Baxter backdated the sentence to when Mockler was first placed in custody on November 6th last year.
She also praised the bravery and resilience of the woman and her friend for how they had coped with such a “harrowing experience” and wished them well for the future.
By Seán McCárthaigh
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