First person in Ireland convicted of coercive control admits assault on other woman

A Co Donegal man, who was the first person in Ireland convicted of coercive control, has admitted assaulting another woman in an unprovoked attack.Kevin Dunleavy was jailed for 21 months back in 2020 after harassing his then girlfriend.Dunleavy made almost 6,000 phone calls to the woman over a three-month period in 2019 when he would demand she scan her location to prove where she was.He pleaded guilty to a number of charges including coercive control, harassment and making threats to damage property.READ MOREThe Kerrykeel man, now aged 39, appeared again at Letterkenny Circuit Court where he admitted to violently assaulting another woman he was dating.He pleaded guilty to a series of charges arising out of an incident in 2024.Dunleavy admitted assaulting the woman in the toilet of Kerrykeel Community Centre where his victim was attending a jiving class on September 6th, 2024.On the same date and location, Dunleavy pleaded to attempting to strangle the woman while he also pleaded guilty to another charge of coercive control.He also pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to a man on September 5th, 2024, also at Kerrykeel Community Centre.He pleaded to arson on September 6th, 2024, in Rathmullan and to dangerous driving on July 9th, 2024, at Killycolman, Rathmullan.Det Garda Eugene Organ outlined the case to state prosecutor Fiona Crawford.He told how the accused, who has 130 previous convictions, followed the woman into the toilet of the hall and falsely accused her of having an affair with the dance teacher.In a statement to Gardaí, she told how she was receiving phone calls from a private number during the jiving class. When she went to the toilet with her phone, Dunleavy saw his chance and followed the woman into the bathroom.During a series of attacks, he shoved her, pushed her and then tried to strangle her with her own blouse until she almost passed out.The woman begged Dunleavy to stop and said she swore on her children’s lives that she wouldn’t report the incident if he stopped.As the brutal attack finished, the jiving class in the centre had also ended and the dance instructor noticed a handbag had been left behind.A member of the dance class said the woman had gone to the toilet 20 minutes beforehand and when the dance teacher went to the toilet, he was met by Dunleavy dragging the woman out of the toilet by the hair.Dunleavy came towards the dance teacher and headbutted him in the nose leaving him with swelling and two black eyes the following day.Later that evening, the woman was at home in Rathmullan with her children when she noticed that Dunleavy was outside her rented house.She saw him break a passenger window in the car, throw something into it and then the car went up in flames.The car, valued at €9,500, was destroyed while a part of the house was also damaged from the blaze.The injured party read her own victim impact statement in court, sitting just feet from her attacker.“I don’t feel safe and I fear if he will come after me again,” she said.Barrister for the accused, Colm Smyth, instructed by solicitor Donough Cleary, said his client wanted to apologise to both the Milford Fore department and to the woman for all he had put them through.Judge John Aylmer adjourned the case until December 8th next for final sentencing.