A woman who suffered a broken tooth after her ex-partner threw her phone at her face in a fit of rage said the episode put her “in fear of leaving her house”.
Christopher McMahon, from Newry, was found guilty of causing actual bodily harm to the woman – who prefers to remain anonymous – at Laganside Magistrates’ Court on October 15.
McMahon had been spending time in a Belfast hotel with the woman, who was his then girlfriend, when the incident took place.
Speaking to Armagh I of the impact the attack had on her in the aftermath of McMahon’s sentencing, the woman expressed her clear shock when a weekend away suddenly turned violent.
She had been in a relationship with McMahon for almost two years. She claims that during an evening in September when they were away, they entered into an argument the night before they were due to check out, which escalated when leaving the hotel and heading into the car park.
Reading from her victim impact statement provided to the court she said: “The next morning we headed back to where the car was park and that’s when I pretended to squirt a Lucozade bottle at him.
“He grabbed me and threw me to the ground. Whenever I was in shock and crying that he had threw me to the floor he [took] my phone and went through my messages without my permission.
“He saw that I received a message from my friend’s brother and started screaming at me. That’s when he threw my phone at me as hard as he could, hitting me in my face.
“I put my hand over my mouth and immediately I could feel and taste blood. Then I realised he had broken my tooth as my tooth was sitting in my hand.”
In the aftermath of the incident, she says McMahon did eventually give her the phone back and offered to take her to hospital.
A security staff member at the car park helped the woman while she waited for friends to come and collect her.
According to the woman she said he repeatedly told her it was a “fluke accident”.
When she got home, she checked her mouth again and noticed she had cuts on her face, a swollen lip, one loose tooth and a broken tooth.
She said the incident made her “feel in fear of leaving the house” she added that she “couldn’t stop crying” and that it “has really effected my self-confidence”.
During her recovery she was in pain and couldn’t eat or drink as a result of her injury.
McMahon was issued a four-month custodial sentence suspended for two years and ordered to pay £400 compensation to his victim.
He pleaded guilty to the offence of causing actual bodily harm but was found not guilty by the court of two other offences of common assault and using threatening or abusive behaviour, both of which he denied.
The victim was also granted a restraining order for a period of two years as a protective measure.
