Wife chose poker burn over choke with belt

A 19-year-old man used violence to control his 16-year-old wife’s every move and once gave her the option of having a belt put around her neck or have her arm burned with a poker.

The arranged marriage in January 2013, between Dean Maughan, 19 at the time, and Annalise Conroy, who had just turned 16, was marred with bullying and violence from the outset, Galway District Court heard this week.

Maughan, with more recent addresses at 77, Innishannagh Park, Newcastle, Galway, and 5, Townspark, Cavan, denied assaulting Ms Conroy causing her harm when the couple lived in a rented house at Station Road, Oranmore on December 15, 2015. He also denied assaulting her at the same address on March 16 last year.