A man who kept his partner living in a tent as part of a campaign of control has been jailed for five months.
James McDonagh, 52, was accused of sleeping at the door of the makeshift accommodation in South Belfast to stop the woman from leaving.
McDonagh, of no fixed abode, admitted subjecting her to domestic abuse over a period of nearly six months, along with a further offence of possessing Class C drugs.
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Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard the victim approached police in a Lisburn Road cafe on November 16 last year to make the disclosures. She told officers that McDonagh had controlled her since his release from prison and prohibited contact with her family.
Crown lawyer Mark O’Connor submitted: “He had the injured party staying in a tent to prevent her from leaving.”
McDonagh also regularly talked down to the woman, the court heard, using insults and calling her derogatory names.
“She said that she was restricted from who she could communicate with, how she spends her money and where she goes,” Mr O’Connor added.
When police arrested McDonagh, officers recovered a packet of pregabalin pills. District Judge Anne Marshall was told he is a heroin addict who has been clean for the last five years.
“He had been living in a tent on the Lisburn Road just opposite the police station for 12 months,” a defence barrister said.
Counsel stressed that her client’s relationship with the victim has now ended.
Sentencing McDonagh to five months imprisonment, Mrs Marshall held that the domestic abuse was aggravated by his previous conviction for common assault on the same woman.
However, due to the period already spent on remand in custody, he is expected to be released from jail within days.
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