The 22-year-old victim of a man who was jailed today for subjecting her to "appalling" coercive control has said she wanted other victims to stand up for themselves and know that they are not alone.
Jake Boles attacked Jody Duggan weekly, dragging her by the hair, slamming her head, screaming abuse at her and pushing his fist into her face.
He was given a two-year suspended sentence by Judge Orla Crowe at Trim Circuit Court in January for one count of coercive control and five counts of assault causing harm to his then partner at two addresses in Ratoath, Co Meath, between 1 January 2019 and 5 April 2019.
However, the State successfully appealed the leniency of the sentence and Boles was resentenced at the Court of Appeal to one year in prison.
Mr Justice John Edwards said the court had regard to the nature and frequency of the assaults, which he said inflicted "egregious" psychological and emotional abuse on the victim.
After the hearing, Ms Duggan described it as "a bitter-sweet moment that was very overwhelming".
She said she could not thank people around her enough for their support and that "what he's done will stay with me forever".
"I wanted to do it not for myself but to help other girls as well, my own age and other women, just to know that you’re not alone and to stand up for yourself," Ms Duggan said.
