Davide Sanfillipo given two-year suspended sentence for assault

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Judge Martin Nolan imposed a two-year suspended sentence on Davide Sanfillipo at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court and ordered him to pay the woman more than €3,000. He pleaded guilty to assault causing harm. The offence took place on 1 October 2015 at Highfield Road, Rathgar. The proceedings were reported on 31 May 2016.

The judge described the assault as cowardly. He said Sanfillipo’s limited English would make imprisonment difficult for him and expressed hesitation about his decision against an immediate prison term.

The report said Sanfillipo attacked his former partner on their child’s christening day after seeing a message from another man on her phone. He seized the phone and told her further messages would stop. She subsequently drove with Sanfillipo and their child in the rear of the car.

During the journey, he repeatedly struck her head from behind, pulled it backwards and forwards, and ripped out her hair. He threatened to kill her. She believed the threat and feared for her life, but said her greater concern was their infant’s safety.

She got out and stopped another motorist, who brought her and the child to Rathmines Garda Station. Gardaí saw blood and swelling on her face and hair clutched in her hands. Sanfillipo’s arrest followed shortly afterwards.

Prosecuting counsel Elva Duffy BL said Sanfillipo acknowledged a mistake during interview, while claiming the woman had tested his patience. Luigi Rea BL, defending, said his client blamed his own immaturity and accepted that the violence was cowardly and his conduct could not be forgiven.

The report recorded minor convictions in Italy. Rea also told the court that Sanfillipo had previously served in Italy’s military and was employed in Ireland as a car valet.