A man has been handed a suspended sentence for assaulting his stepson and producing a knife during a dispute with his wife in their Kerry home.
The 62-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victims, was found guilty last month of assault causing harm, assault, and producing a knife in the course of a dispute.
The Central Criminal Court jury acquitted the man of more serious charges, including rape and coercive control.
The offences took place in the family home in Kerry in May 2020 and during the summer of 2019, during what the court heard was a dysfunctional and volatile relationship.
The court was told that during an argument, the man picked up a large kitchen knife and moved towards his wife, before his teenage stepson intervened and took the knife out of his hand.
In the second incident in May 2020, the court heard the 15-year-old stepson was laughing while watching YouTube videos with headphones on, in the sitting room.
The man then came into the room and berated the boy for making noise, before grabbing him by his top and manhandling him.
The wife intervened, and he punched her in the face, before he went outside to call gardaí.
The woman and her children then moved to a refuge for a number of days, and the couple is now divorced.
Defending, Senior Counsel Brendan Grehan said the man has no previous convictions except for one road traffic matter, and has not come to the attention of gardaí since this offending in 2020.
In her victim impact statement, the woman said she suffered depression, anxiety and sleeplessness as a result of this offending, while she also felt great guilt for bringing her children into the situation.
In his victim impact statement, the boy said the man mentally destroyed him, and he struggled to understand how a grown man could hurt him, when he had done nothing wrong.
Mr Justice Paul Burns handed down a one-year sentence and suspended it on a number of conditions, including that the man have no contact with his ex-wife and her son, and that he completes a domestic violence course.
