Coercive control victim wants barring order law change

A SOUTH Galway survivor of coercive control has called on the Justice Minister to change the law on protection and barring orders to safeguard people who have suffered abuse, writes Dan Danaher.

Sourney Linnane believes a barring order should be attached to any person who has suffered abuse and should not be tied to a particular address.

The mother-of-three previously got a barring order prohibiting her former partner Kilrush man, Martin Mulqueen from visiting her at Bawn Street, Roscommon.

This order, however, is non-transferable and she feels it is now effectively useless, having moved to another part of the West of Ireland.

Martin Mulqueen (53), Ballynote, Kilrush, but with an address in Bawn Street, Strokestown, Co Roscommon, was the third person to be jailed for coercive control in Ireland.

In March 2021, Mulqueen received a combined sentence of 54 months, with the final 20 months suspended for four years. The sentence was backdated to the time he went into custody. He was released from prison on December 3.

Mulqueen pleaded guilty during this trial to three sample charges, including coercive control, assault, and assault causing harm on dates between March and October 2019.

While An Taoiseach Micheál Martin has stated the murder of primary school teacher Ashling Murphy in Tullamore, Co Offaly has “united the nation in solidarity and revulsion, Ms Linnane believes more protection needs to be provided to survivors of all types of abuse.

She hopes the huge outpouring of grief since the death of Ms Murphy will act as a catalyst for change.

“This is not about gender. Men can be subject to violence. I read a case recently where a man was beaten to a pulp by his partner. I think violence is escalating too much. It is time to change this culture.

“Unless this violence stops, the perpetrators will get away with murder. If they are convicted, they will spend time in jail but they will be released, unlike their victim who may have been killed and are six feet under the ground.”

For a married woman with children who doesn’t want an abusive husband to return to their home, Ms Linnane acknowledges a barring order is useful in this instance. However, she believes the current law is no use in other circumstances.

She wants Minister Helen McEntee to introduce legislation to allow a provision for a barring or protection order to be linked to a survivor of abuse regardless of where they are living in the country rather than to a specific address.

“Unless the law changes there is nothing that can be done even by the gardai,” said Ms Linnane.

“I am between a rock and a hard place. Unless a survivor has a barring order, the gardai are limited in what they can do. I don’t mind where he (Mulqueen) is living so long as he doesn’t interfere with me. I am not entitled to know what county he is living in but if I take out a barring order, he will know where I live. It is crazy. It is a warped justice system.”

“This is not about Martin Linnane. I am not out to get Martin. This is affecting hundreds of other women and men in similar circumstances.”

Ms Linnane contacted the office of the Justice Minister on Thursday, Friday and Monday to raise this issue with her.

She believes the survivor of any form of serious physical or psychological abuse should be entitled to know what county the convicted perpetrator of any abuse is living after they are released from prison.

Speaking in the lead-up to Sinn Féin’s motion on gender-based violence that was debated in the Dáil on Wednesday, Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne has called for great strides to be taken to tackle violence against women.

Deputy Wynne said the death of Ms Murphy and the attack on Alanna Idris Quinn in Dublin need to be watershed moments.

“It’s high-time for the Government to take seriously the issue at hand,” said the Sinn Fein TD.

“Unfortunately, another young woman has lost her life last week while another female teenager was brutally attacked the week prior.

“These incidences are not unrelated as both are the result of a lack of preventative measures taken by the Government to tackle violence against women.”

Sinn Féin are calling on the Government to establish a domestic, sexual and gender-based violence policy and service implementation unit within the Department of the Taoiseach.

The party are also calling for the introduction of independent multi-agency domestic homicide reviews underpinned in legislation similar to that in place in the North.