Father jailed for 20 months over assault on son

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

A man who slapped his eight-year-old son over toileting issues was sentenced to two years and four months in prison, with the final eight months suspended on strict conditions, including 12 months of supervision by the Probation Services after release. He cannot be named to protect his now teenage son’s anonymity.

He pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to child cruelty and assault causing harm to the boy in June 2018. The proceedings were reported on February 19, 2026.

Judge Sinéad Ní Chúlacháin described his actions as a breach of parental trust and said his responsibility towards his son made them more serious. She also noted that it was a once-off incident which the man had self-reported. She said the psychological effects were more serious than the physical impacts and that the father’s relationship with his son had completely ruptured.

The judge noted the guilty plea, the delay in the case and the loss of the relationship with his son. Referring to the boy’s victim impact statement, she noted that he experienced anxiety to which court processes, including some relating to family law, would have contributed. The man had six previous convictions for offences under section 33 of the Domestic Violence Act against the boy’s mother.