A mother of two has been awarded €150,000 in personal injury compensation at the High Court after she was attacked by her former partner, and father of her two children.
Jonathan McSherry (36), formerly of Cedarbrook Walk, Cherry Orchard, Dublin, was sentenced to three and a half years for the attack on Jessica Bowes. He was released after 22 months of the sentence. Mr McSherry admitted that he broke nearly every bone in Ms Bowes face and kicked her a number of times during a assault in December 2015.
The former soldier said sorry to Ms Bowes and her civil action was being heard by the High Court for a final assessment of damages. He (McSherry) attacked Ms Bowes after she arrived at her Clondalkin home in a taxi from a Christmas night out on December 20, 2015, to find him waiting there. Security camera footage of the attack showed McSherry dragging Ms Bowes from the taxi, punching, kicking and dragging her along the ground. She lost consciousness twice in the attack which lasted over one minute and a half before she managed to escape into a closeby house.
Speaking after the award was revealed, Ms Bowes said she hopes the ruling and compensation award will lead to more and more victims of domestic violence to come forward and taking legal actions.
She said: “I hope this will act as a deterrent, that people will realise there are possible large financial consequences as well as the threat of prison for this sort of violence. I’ve already had people write to me about it. One woman sent me a letter and a holy medal on Tuesday thanking me for my courage and asking me to pray for her so that she could find courage to tell the truth too. “She went to the bother of writing the letter, getting a stamp and posting it”.
“I was very upset for her and I will pray for her. She signed the letter ‘an old lady’, and it shows this can happen to anyone from any background. I just hope now that with International Women’s Day coming tomorrow, women everywhere will find the courage to speak out” Ms Bowes added.
She finished saying: “I hope women young and old will that find strength. It’s important for women to realise help is there for them – from places like Women’s Aid – [and] that legal advice and professional help is available.”
Ms Justice Bronagh O’Hanlon said that she believed that Ms Bowes’ account was genuine and factually correct. The judge added that this was an extremely serious case that led to the woman suffering from difficulties which were ongoing and permanent.
The judge said that it was also recorded that Mr McSherry’s admissions and apology for the attack did not come immediately. Additionally it was stated that it was not the function of the civil court to punish the defendant but rather to assess the appropriate damages.However, the judge also recognised the steps that McSherry had taken to rehabilitate himself, but did not reduce the amount of compensatory damages that Ms Bowes was to be awarded.
The Judge deemed a personal injury compensation award of €150,000 appropriate given the circumstances.