Man who punched and kicked his partner in Fermoy told gardaí she suffered injuries from drunkenness

Defendant had been living in Ireland after leaving Ukraine following the Russian invasion

The man has been jailed for two years.

A man who pulled his then partner by the hair, punched her seven times in the face and kicked her on the floor, attempted to explain her injuries to the gardaí by saying she used to drink too much and fall over.

However, Andrii Novytskyi, aged 47, of The Lodge, Straw Hall, Fermoy, later pleaded guilty to all the charges brought against him by Detective Garda John Murphy of Fermoy garda station.

Now he has been jailed for two years by Judge Helen Boyle at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

The assault happened at Straw Hall. The defendant had been living in Ireland for four years and the judge was told that his home in Ukraine no longer existed as it was destroyed vduring the Russian invasion.

The deendant blessed himself after the imposition of a sentence of two years and six months with the last six months suspended which was backdated to October 5, 2025, when he went into custody.

Judge Boyle noted from the victim impact statement: “She is still in great fear. She believed your threats to kill her. She continues to have psychological sequelae. You have written a letter. You said you had been doing well in prison.” 

Detective Garda Murphy said in terms of the background to the incident: “He returned at 8pm on October 4, 2025. Her friends left the house. She felt he was under the influence of intoxicants. He said he hated her and said he would kill her and all her family.

“He dragged her by the hair, punched her seven times in the face and kicked her on the leg on the ground.” 

He stopped when her mother arrived on the scene but a short time later he again threatened that he was going to kill them.

Cut up belongings

On another occasion he produced a large knife and cut a pair of runners belonging to his partner. He also cut up her handbag. This was captured on video taken on the injured party’s mobile phone.

At interview, Andrii Novytskyi denied all involvement. He said she continually fell over due to alcohol as she was drunk. He would continually change his version as further evidence was put to him, Det Garda Murphy said. And he defended the damage he caused to the handbag and runners, saying he had bought them for her.

He ultimately pleaded guilty to the charges of assault causing harm, making the death threat and causing criminal damage. He had no previous convictions and wrote a letter of apology.

Defence barrister Brian Leahy said: “Obviously the problem on this occasion was drink-related. He is not making an excuse but he said that was why. He has some severe medical conditions."

Judge Boyle referred to evidence of the assault in the course of delivering sentence: “You began verbally abusing her, calling her horrible names and threatened to kill her. You grabbed her hair, gave her seven punches to the face and head, and caused such alarm her mother came down the stairs. You were threatening to kill her mother and everyone in the house.”