Suspended sentence for breach of order

A Wexford town man was brought before the district court in custody to answer to a charge of breaching a safety order taken out by his ex-partner and mother of two of his children.

Jason Power (43) with an address listed as 87 St Aidan’s Green, Wexford, was charged with breaching a safety order taken out by Mary Jones at 19 Melrose Court on February 14. The court heard that Power had arrived at the house and was abusive and shouted at Ms Jones and tried to push his way in and kicked at the door.

‘I was terrified,’ Ms Jones said from the witness box. ‘It was very scary.’

Solicitor Ed King said that, while his defendant has 49 previous convictions, none were for offences of this nature. He said that Power struggled with drug addiction and was now clean of drugs, including methadone. Mr King also mentioned that while in custody, Power’s daughter’s partner tragically died in a car accident and he was unable to attend the funeral.

Judge John Cheatle said that the breach of a court order was a serious matter, but he also had to regard the fact that Power had been in custody since February 14. Upon hearing all the evidence, he opted to hand power a three month sentence, suspended over 18 months on the condition that he observe the safety order, have no contact with the injured party except to organise access to the children and be respectful and courteous in all dealings with Ms Jones.

He also ordered that Power was to stay away from 19 Melrose Court - the home of Ms Jones’ current partner.