'Without doubt worst case of domestic violence I’ve seen in my 13 years on the bench'

Man who shared ex’s intimate images to social media before beating her with hotel hairdryer jailed

So-called social media influencers are partially responsible for a rise in domestic violence cases, a Circuit Court judge has stated following the sentencing of a drug addict who repeatedly beat, abused and controlled his ex-partner in what the judge said was “without a doubt, the worst case of domestic violence I’ve seen”.

Blaine Parker (24), with an address in Clonybane, Ballymore, County Westmeath, showed “zero remorse” and “zero cooperation” when he told gardaí that the bloodstained towels and bedsheets left in a hotel room, in which he had brutally beaten his partner with a hairdryer after he saw other men had liked her Instagram stories, must have been from the victim being on her period.

He appeared before Mullingar Circuit Court, where he was jailed for eight years, having previously pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to the woman, and the sharing of intimate images without her consent in February of last year.

Guilty pleas were also entered to nine more charges, including five further counts of assault causing harm, criminal damage to the victim’s phone and threatening to kill or cause her serious harm on various dates between December 2020 and May 2024.

In her victim impact statement, the woman said her life “will never be the same” following the constant abuse from her ex-partner. She said she thought she loved him and that he loved her, but she realised he was just using her.

“I can’t move on. I live in constant fear of what he will do to me if he gets out of prison,” she said, adding that she suffers from PTSD, long-term physical injuries and trust issues.

Mr Parker, in court, accepted that the injured party’s account of events was correct and said he was “very, very sorry” for his actions.

“I know what I‘ve done,” he said, offering his “deepest apologies” to his former partner and stating that he has “serious remorse”. He added that “drugs are my biggest downfall”, but said he is on the road to recovery.

The persistence and “savagery” of the assaults and mental abuse were particularly aggravating factors in the case, Judge Johnson outlined, adding that the threats to kill were multiple and serious, while the publication of her images was “disgraceful and demeaning”.

“It appears the growth of domestic violence, particularly among young men, is fed, not only by substance abuse, but also by exposure from the internet,” Judge Keenan Johnson opined when passing judgement.

“So-called ‘influencers’ who propagate a misogynistic philosophy which encourages men – especially young men – to disrespect women, and encourages domination by males over females.

“Cases like this highlight the need for respect, consideration, generosity and non-violence to be core values to be inculcated in every citizen from a young age.”

A spousal assault risk assessment undertaken by the Probation Service put the accused as a continued risk of intimate partner violence, and found that he will require a high level of intervention in future. A letter from his parents outlined that he was a good kid, but spiralled out of control due to drug use.

The court previously heard how, during a hotel stay between February 6 and 11, Mr Parker took the victim’s social welfare so that he could purchase and consume a large quantity of ketamine, cocaine and tranax. On one of the nights, he awoke the woman by hitting her on the legs and shoulder with her phone after he had gone through it and seen that a number of other men had liked her Instagram stories.

Following that, he posted nude photos and videos of her on her social media accounts, as well as sending them to her father, her mother, her 13-year-old brother and her grandmother via WhatsApp. In total he sent nine photos via WhatsApp, two photos via her Instagram, and two via her Snapchat story for everyone to see.

He then picked up the hairdryer in the room and began beating her in the face until it shattered to pieces, telling her, “you won’t see the light of day again”, before taking the wooden top off a round coffee table and continuing to beat her, telling her she would be “worthy prison time” if he killed her.

A further beating came shortly afterwards when he came in from the balcony and caught her trying to get dressed so she could escape the room. He hit her so many times that she passed out.

Gda Kerins told the court that after getting free of the abusive relationship the injured party started to become more confident and reported a large number of previous incidents of abuse and assault.

She said the first four or five months of their relationship were okay but it then became “forceful”. He would take her phone away, push her, slap her all over her body, kick her in her sides and face. She took secret photos of her injuries on each occasion, which were of evidential value to investigating gardaí.

The court heard how he had “a different laugh when he did something cruel”, which scared her because she knew something bad was coming. The woman told gardaí she was terrified for her life and the lives of her family because of the physical, emotional and mental abuse she’d suffered.

She told gardaí that, in May 2023, she found out she was pregnant with his child, and he forced her to get an abortion “or I will kick the child out of you”.

One of the more serious incidents occurred on the afternoon of January 9, 2024, when he hit her on the back of the head with her own mobile phone, splitting her head open in two places. There was blood everywhere, Garda Kerins told the court, and when he saw that, he panicked, took her phone and his own phone and fled the scene, leaving her “bleeding and with no form of communication” and no way to call for help. She required 26 staples to two wounds to her head.

The accused had no previous convictions and has been in custody on remand since February of last year.

In mitigation, counsel for Mr Parker, Marc Thompson Grolimund, SC, accepted that his client treated his former partner “atrociously” but, “despite the abhorrent nature of his crimes, the Probation Service have said he’s suitable for community service”.

He stressed that Mr Parker entered a guilty plea, even if that plea was “somewhat self-serving”, and that he knows the case will be publicised.

“It’s not often I’m left speechless, but that is without a doubt the worst case of domestic violence I’ve seen in my 13 years on the bench,” Judge Johnson said after hearing the evidence.

He sentenced Mr Parker to five years in prison for the hotel assault, with a consecutive five-year sentence for the assault which left the victim with staples to her head. He was also sentenced to five years for the sharing of the victim’s private, intimate images, and that sentence is to run concurrently to the other two sentences.

Finally, taking the total of 10 years imprisonment, the judge proceeded to suspend the final two years for a period of five years with a number of conditions, including no contact with the victim.

The sentence was backdated to February 2025, when Mr Parker first went into custody.