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A MAN who punched his son in the face during a family row over his refusal to remove a photo from social media of his teenage daughter in a bikini has avoided being sent to prison. The father of three, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty at a sitting of Naas Circuit Criminal Court to a charge of assaulting his son at their home on 23 May 2020. The accused also pleaded guilty to a separate charge of breaching a safety order on the same occasion.

The court heard that the man, who lived in a separate property within the grounds of the family home, was estranged from his wife and children at the time. Counsel for the DPP Daniel Boland BL, said the man’s daughter had got into a row with her father outside the house and began crying over the fact that he was refusing to take down a photo of her, when aged 17, in a bikini that had been posted on Facebook. Mr Boland said the man was claiming that it was the only photo he had of his daughter.



The man’s eldest son came out of the house when he saw his sister crying and also asked his father to remove the photo. Evidence was given that the accused started recording his son with his mobile phone before grabbing him and then punching the teenager on the left side of the face with a closed fist. Naas Courthouse At that stage, the man’s wife intervened in an attempt to de-escalate the situation.

In a victim impact statement, the accused’s son said he felt threatened but was “more in shock” over what had happene.

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