Man jailed over "catalogue of violence" that left woman fearing for life

Wednesday 09 March 2022

A 31-year-old man, who knocked a woman's teeth out and left her with two black eyes after attacking her in a drunken rage, has been sent to prison for 18 months.

Daniel James Keenan was sentenced in the Royal Court on Tuesday for committing a grave and criminal assault and stealing a purse.

Crown Advocate Lauren Hallam said that Keenan had committed a “catalogue of violence” against the woman in her own home.

“On the night of 1 January this year, the defendant [Keenan] became jealous of her talking to a male friend of his,” said the lawyer. “In a rage, he poured a bottle of wine over her head.

“This was followed by repeated violence over a period extending into the following day, in which he pushed her to the ground, knocked her tooth out, punched and kicked her, banged her head on the floor, threatened to kill her, threw a knife, strangled her while kneeling on her chest, and pulled out some of her hair.”

Giving more detail, Advocate Hallam described how the victim had recounted the assault to the police.

“She said that the defendant had ‘gone mental’ and ‘into a rage’ and trashed her house. She said she had ‘two black eyes’, which had been caused by the defendant hitting her.

“When asked what the defendant had done to her face and how he had done it, the victim said he ‘smashed my head on the floor’.

“She said he was ‘like a wild animal’ and that she thought he was going to kill her.”

The lawyer said that the victim had declined to make a formal complaint about the assault.

The victim had later written a letter to the Crown saying that she had drunk too much that evening, attacked Keenan and he had restrained her. 

She told the Crown that she had started the argument on 1 January by verbally and physically attacking him, she bruised easily and when she first spoke to the police, she was “not thinking straight”.

In a police statement, she said that Keenan had assaulted her but it was not all his fault and she felt she was “goading him”. 

Defending, Advocate Francesca Pinel drew the Court’s attention to the victim’s retractions. She also highlighted the victim’s own account that Keenan had not thrown a knife towards the victim but had taken it off her and thrown it away.

The lawyer added that Keenan had been highly intoxicated and had no recollection of the incident. Relying on the victim’s account, she said her client was genuinely remorseful and felt both shock and shame at what had happened.

Passing sentence, Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae, who was sitting with Jurats Steven Austin-Vautier and Karen Le Cornu, said this was a “serious case of domestic abuse”.

“The victim was vulnerable and in her own home, where she was entitled to feel safe,” he said. “You were drunk and the violence you put on her was wholly excessive.”

The judge added that no inference should be drawn from the victim not making a complaint nor did it lessen the seriousness of the assault.

Mr MacRae referenced letters in which people had written about a positive side to Keenan and the judge expressed a hope that he would take advantage of the mental health and addiction programmes available in prison.