Dublin parents granted barring orders against violent adult children

Several parents secured emergency protection and barring orders at Dublin District Court against adult children accused of assault and aggression.

Dublin families seek court protection from violent adult children

Several parents appeared before a Dublin District family court on Friday and secured emergency protection and barring orders against their adult children, the Irish Times reports. The cases — heard without prior notice to the adult children, given their emergency nature — revealed a pattern of violence linked in several instances to drug and alcohol use.

A grandmother who cares for her young grandchild was granted a temporary barring order against her daughter, who is in her twenties. The woman told Judge Gerard Furlong that her daughter "will throw fists at me" when frustrated, and had assaulted her in recent days. "When she gets alcohol or drugs in her and she does not get her own way she will start roaring and shouting at me," she said. The daughter was said to use cocaine and some form of tablet. A protection order had previously been in place, but Furlong noted a "history" going back to 2022 and concluded it was no longer sufficient.

A father told the court he is afraid to leave his partner and daughters at home with his son, also in his twenties, whom he described as "extremely aggressive" and a recovering cocaine addict. The son has refused to leave the family home and will not accept psychiatric help. "The girls are terrified of him. I cannot go to work and leave my partner and kids at home... He flies off the handle for no reason," the man said. He was granted a short-term protection order, with the judge noting that a barring order application would be needed to prevent the son from entering the home entirely.

A third mother said her daughter, in her twenties, attempted to break into her home in the early hours immediately after being released from prison. The daughter had been serving a six-month sentence for a previous assault on the same woman, who also cares for her other children and her daughter's young child. Noting the earlier serious assault, Furlong granted a temporary barring order.

A fourth applicant, a woman living alone, said her son in his forties had repeatedly struck her and "boxed me in the ear" in recent days. "I cannot live like that any more," she told the judge. Furlong said the gardaí could arrest the son, as the alleged conduct would already breach an existing protection order, but he concluded that order was "not enough" and granted a barring order to remain in place until the case returns to court in early July.

Source: Irish Times