Domestic violence: 'It takes courage. We want victims to know they will be listened to'

Repeat offending is common in domestic abuse. It can often escalate, sometimes culminating in murder, writes Liz Dunphy

Former garda Paul Moody was returned to jail this week after sentencing for 'prolonged' and 'extreme' abuse of a woman. Here's the thing: He was already in jail for abusing another woman. File picture: Collins Courts 

This week, the former garda at the centre of one of the State’s first and most shocking cases of coercive control was returned to jail for the abuse of a second woman.

Paul Moody, aged 46, told the woman he hoped she would die in childbirth while pregnant with his child, writing: “I hope you bleed out and die you c***.”

He also threatened to send intimate images to her employer.

Moody, formerly of St Raphael’s Manor, Celbridge, Kildare, pleaded guilty to harassment and coercive control.

He had abused the woman, whose identity is protected, between March 2016 and November 2017.

But when the woman reported the abuse in 2017 to the police ombudsman — the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) at the time, now Fiosrú — she said that she was “met with silence” and Moody continued serving as a garda.

Moody went on to abuse another woman

After their relationship ended in early 2017, he went on to abuse another woman months later, Nicola Hanney. She met Moody online. 

Ms Hanney had just survived what had originally been a terminal cancer diagnosis.  

Moody was very charming at the beginning, but the relationship soured and Ms Hanney left.

Having abused one woman, then garda Paul Moody went on to abuse Nicola Hanney. Picture: RTÉ

However, she then found herself pregnant with Moody’s child, and her cancer had returned. So, terrified and alone, she went back to Moody.

She suffered four years of abuse until he was jailed in 2022 for three years and three months after pleading guilty to coercive control.

But 19 other charges, including assault, theft, criminal damage and a threat to kill Nicola Hanney, were taken into account.

He wanted to 'watch her bleed out'

On the day she gave birth to their child, he told her he came to the hospital just to “watch her bleed out”.

He also told her that she was “riddled” with cancer and it would kill her.

The unnamed woman at the centre of the abuse case for which Moody was jailed again this week said: “If someone had listened in 2017, Nicola would have been spared.”

Detective Inspector Cormac Brennan of the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation speaking to media outside Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in 2022 after Paul Moody was sentenced to prison. File picture: Collins Courts

Her case was picked up by gardaí investigating his abuse of Ms Hanney when they found a letter from Gsoc about his alleged abuse of the un-named woman when searching his home.

Alert gardaí spotted the abuse

And Ms Hanney’s case was also only picked up accidentally by alert gardaí who became suspicious and launched an investigation after Moody made an allegation against a relative of hers.

Patrick Kielty with Nicola Hanney in 2024 when Ms Hanney spoke on the Late Late Show of the abuse and coercive controil she had suffered. Picture: RTÉ 

Gardaí searched his phone in connection with that allegation, and they became suspicious that he was involved in an abusive relationship.

Repeat offending is common in domestic abuse.

When the behaviour continues unchecked and unpunished, the abuse often escalates, sometimes culminating in murder.

Jennifer Poole — Jennie's Law

Jason Poole, the brother of Jennifer Poole, who was murdered in 2021, has been calling for a domestic violence register so that those convicted of this crime are listed, and so people can check if their partner has abused someone before.

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan has brought a bill forward which would allow people convicted of domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence to be named on a register.

But the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences, Domestic Violence and International Instruments) Bill 2025, or Jennie’s Law, has not yet been introduced into Irish law.

Had such a register existed in Ireland, Mr Poole believes his sister would still be alive today.

Ms Poole’s killer, Gavin Murphy, had previously been jailed for attacking a former partner and her mother. But the Pooles first learned this when in court for the trial over Ms Poole’s murder.

Jennifer Poole’s killer, Gavin Murphy, had previously been jailed for attacking a former partner and her mother. But the Pooles first learned this when in court for his trial. Picture: Colin Keegan/Collins

Ms Poole, a mother of two and a healthcare worker who played camogie for her local club, was stabbed to death by Murphy one afternoon in April 2021 in her own home in Finglas, Dublin.

Sentencing judge Mr Justice Paul Burns noted this was “yet another case of a violent attack upon a young mother by a male partner”.

Daena 'would still be alive'

Callum Walsh, the brother of murdered mother-of-two Daena Walsh, also believes that his sister would be alive if a register for those who committed violent crimes existed. His sister’s killer, Adam Corcoran, had 42 previous convictions.

He was on bail for attacking a French teacher with a screwdriver in Cork City just 10 days before he murdered Ms Walsh.

Daena Walsh's remains are carried from St Laurence O'Toole's Church, Roundwood, Co Wicklow after her funeral Mass in August 2024.

Had he been remanded in custody for that violent offence, Ms Walsh would be alive today, he believes. Callum Walsh said: 

He had 42 previous convictions; clearly, he had already been given too many chances in the past. 

“Daena did not know about his criminal convictions when she met him. When she got to know him, she was terrified of him.”

Corcoran, aged 31, originally from Ballincollig in Cork, was jailed for life in March this year after he was found guilty of the murder of his partner and the mother of his two children.

He stabbed Daena Walsh 25 times, including in the face, neck, chest, and stomach.

Adam Corcoran was jailed for life earlier this year for murdering Daena Walsh. He had 42 previous convictions and was on bail for attacking a French teacher with a screwdriver just 10 days before he murdered Ms Walsh. Picture: Irish Examiner

“It was clear from her defensive wounds that she fought for her life,” Judge Siobhán Lankford said at sentencing.

Corcoran had also attempted to amputate Ms Walsh’s left arm post-mortem in what appeared to be an attempt to dismember her body.

When that did not appear to work, he attempted to burn the apartment they shared at John Barry House, Connolly St, Midleton, Co Cork, on August 2, 2024, in a bid to destroy the evidence, the court heard.

A cluster of stab wounds over Ms Walsh’s heart were some of the fatal knife injuries she suffered.

Ms Walsh was 27 when he murdered her. They first met when she was still living in her family home as a very young woman, just starting out in adult life.

“We were happy,” Callum Walsh said.

But, soon after Daena Walsh met Corcoran, the couple moved to Cork, where he was from, first staying with his mother and then finding the apartment in Midleton where Ms Walsh would ultimately be murdered.

The family began to notice that on visits the couple made back to Wicklow, or on trips the family made to Cork, Ms Walsh’s demeanour would change whenever Corcoran entered the room.

Coercive control 

“She’d suddenly get very quiet. Her eyes would drop to the ground,” Callum Walsh said.

“Then they’d make up excuses not to visit at all anymore.

He took control of her phone. When friends and family would contact her, he’d always text back. He’d say she was in the shower or something so she couldn’t come to the phone. There was always an excuse. 

Callum Walsh believes Corcoran moved his sister and deliberately tried to isolate her from her family and support network.

“He knew where all her family lived. I think she was terrified. She felt she had nowhere safe to go,” he said.

Any complaint about domestic abuse should be taken extremely seriously, with immediate protections provided to the victim, he said.

Had Daena felt safe to escape from Corcoran, she would have fled, Callum believes.

All complaints of domestic abuse, including that of Paul Moody’s first victim, who reported him to Gsoc, “need to be treated as absolute priorities to protect women and children”, Callum Walsh said.

Response from Gsoc (now Fiosrú)

Gsoc opened an investigation into a public complaint it received about Moody in late 2017. 

It accepted that the investigation faced delays and was discontinued in March 2023.

In 2025, Fiosrú, which replaced Gsoc, established a specialist services unit to investigate incidents, including public complaints, where a garda is accused of domestic violence, coercive control, abuse of power for sexual purposes, child sexual abuse, or sexual assault.

It was conducting 12 investigations where a garda is an alleged perpetrator and 23 investigations where a garda is alleged to have failed to properly deal with a report of domestic and sexual abuse in April this year.

“Fiosrú is committed to hearing the lived experiences of victims/survivors. It operates to high standards and takes seriously concerns raised by public complainants,” Fiosrú said in a statement.

Reality check: Seven women died violently last year

Seven women died violently last year. Four have already been killed this year. Between 1996 and May 11, 282 women have died violently.

And 21 children have died in incidents where women have died violently.

Assistant Commissioner, Organised & Serious Crime, Angela Willis, speaking at An Garda Síochána's recent Go Purple Day, raising awareness of domestic abuse. Picture: Sam Boal/Collins

One in every two femicide victims is killed by a current or former male intimate partner. Some 87% of women are killed by a man they knew.

Domestic abuse remains horribly common.

Last week, gardaí announced a 10% increase in reported incidents of domestic abuse in the first four months of this year, compared to the first four months of 2025.

Gardaí are now receiving more than 1,000 reports of domestic abuse every week.

'It takes courage to report' 

The figures were released by gardaí as part of Go Purple Day, which aims to raise awareness about domestic abuse and the supports available.

Assistant Commissioner for Organised and Serious Crime Angela Willis has encouraged anyone experiencing domestic abuse to come forward to gardaí.

Gardaí are committed to ensuring that victims will be supported and their cases will be thoroughly investigated, she said.

“It takes courage to report. We want our victims to know that they will be listened to, that they will be treated with respect, and that they will be supported throughout the process, both by ourselves and by the myriad of support agencies that are out there that we would work very closely with,” Ms Willis said.