Jonathan Ayton called his ex-girlfriend, ‘A lying alcoholic b***ard.’
A man with 96 previous convictions has been found guilty of assaulting his ex-girlfriend and mother of his two children at a sitting of Letterkenny District Court.
Jonathan Ayton, 40, of The Close, Raphoe denied the accusations of assault against his ex-partner and criminal damage to her property in November last year.
Sgt Jim Collins told the court, “I was made aware of an incident of an alleged assault that took place in Raphoe on November 19th, 2015.
“Maria McCarron made a statement on the 22nd November about the alleged assault, I noted that she had bruising to her eyes, lips and forehead.
“She informed me that she was assaulted by her partner Jonathan Ayton.
“He was subsequently arrested in Ballybofey by Garda Kilcoyne in relation to the alleged assault.”
Ms McCarron then withdrew her statement, but then decided to go ahead with the original statement, citing that she was pressurised to withdraw her original statement against Mr Ayton.
Sgt Collins said, “I met Mrs McCarron at the playground in Raphoe, this was after she had withdrawn her statement, she was anxious and was very nervous, and she expressed concerns for her own safety.
“The following day, I received a call from Mrs McCarron saying that she wanted to go ahead with the original statement, she said she felt pressurized to withdraw the statement.”
An emotional Mrs McCarron told the court, “Me, Jonathan and his cousin Bernadette Ayton were drinking when an altercation broke out between me and Jonathan.
“I was talking to Bernadette about a fella I used to see, Jonathan overheard me and he confronted me about it.
“He then assaulted me, he punched me on the nose, forehead, eye and lip.
“I sustained two black eyes, bruising to my body, I had cut lips, and a bruised forehead and my nose was swollen.
During cross-examination Inspector Michael Harrison asked how long did the injuries take to clear up, and how was she affected by the assault.
“It took well over a week for the injuries to heal, and I was completely stressed out after the incident.
“I collapsed a number of times since it, and even last Sunday I collapsed, I was just in total fear.
Inspector Harrison asked Mrs McCarron why she withdrew this statement.
“I was asked to drop it, I was pressurised to drop the allegation and withdraw the statement.
“I was told that six statements would be made against me, and that I would lose my children.
“I was terrified when I was told that, so I withdrew it, but then I decided, No, I’m not going to be intimidated anymore.”
Solicitor for the defendant Mr Hegarty then cross-examined Mrs McCarron.
Hegarty put it to Mrs McCarron that she had in fact participated in the drinking session all day, and was intoxicated from early on.
Mrs McCarron totally refuted the claims made by Mr Hegarty and said she only began drinking after she had collected her kids.
Mr Hegarty then suggested that she sustained her injuries when she fell down the stairs due to the intoxicated state she was in.
He also claimed she went missing for a number of days, and was away on the ‘beer’ and crashed her car because she was drink-driving.
Again Mrs McCarron totally refuted the claims and said she sustained the injuries at the hands of Jonathan Ayton.
Mrs McCarron said, “It wasn’t a major accident, I just hit the bumper, and I was sober driving.
“I was not away on the drink, I was a secure location in Letterkenny, because I was living in fear.”
Inspector Harrison expressed his disbelief and astonishment at the cross-examination by Mr Hegarty.
Mr Jonathan Ayton was then called to the stand to give evidence.
Mr Ayton told the court, “We went to Ballybofey, on the way back we stopped in Manny’s Bar, Convoy.
“I couldn’t believe she wanted a drink, it was during the week, I sat in the car, then after ten minutes I went inside and there she was having a great time at the bar.
“So I decided to have a pint, we stayed for about an hour and then we headed to get a carry-out and went to Bernadette’s house.
“We were all drinking vodka and tins of Tennents. I didn’t realise she was drinking as much, but Bernadette told me, she was taking drink out of my vodka behind my back.
“We then went to collect the kids, and she almost went clean over the hedge, then I realised how drunk she was.
“My daughter was crying in the back seat, and asked me to drive, I was banned from driving so I couldn’t – but I urged Maria to slow down and drive carefully.
“We then stopped at Coyle’s off license in Raphoe and got another carry-out, she was drink she dropped a crate of beer in the shop.
“We then continued drinking in the house, I then overheard her talking about some private issues, and I wasn’t happy she was disclosing it to other people, it’s our business.
“I confronted her about it and she lost the plot, and she slapped me across the face twice.
“Diana Park came into the house because our daughter had contacted her in relation to the argument and she tried to calm Maria down.
“Eventually I just left, because there was no talking to her.”
Inspector Harrison put it to him that he was enraged she was speaking about her ex-boyfriend, and that he simply lit on her.
“You were angry she was talking about her ex-boyfriend, you were really peeved and you just lit on her.
“You were angry and you lashed out and beat her up.”
Mr Ayton angrily refuted all suggestions and said he had confronted in a calm manner, and it was she he flew into a rage.
“I was calm, I was annoyed she was disclosing business about us and I told her that, but she struck me twice.
“She then fell down the stairs and I laughed at her, and that annoyed her too.
Judge Paul Kelly was shown photographic evidence of the severe injuries sustained by Mrs McCarron.
In his summarization, Judge Kelly said, “In your statement to Sergeant Jim Collins, you said, ‘Look Jim, the mark on my hand is a fag burn, if I hit her four times, my hands would be marked, she’s a lying alcoholic ‘b***ard’.
“I’m satisfied from the photographic evidence that the injuries evident in the pictures are consistent with Mrs McCarron’s version of events.
“You’ve a terrible history of violence, and it’s obvious that when you drink you lose your temper and lash out.
“It’s terrible when children are involved and witness such a violent incident between their parents.
“I’m going to sentence you to six months in jail, backdated from the 24th November, because you’ve been in custody since then.”
Judge Paul Kelly ordered Mr Ayton to keep the peace for twelve months and ordered him to stay away from Mrs McCarron upon his release.