A man has been convicted of domestic abuse and common assault following a contested court case, with his victim speaking publicly for the first time after sentencing.
David Aaron Brooks was found guilty of domestic abuse, relating to coercive and controlling behaviour, as well as common assault.
Brooks had pleaded not guilty to both charges but was convicted by Banbridge Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
For the domestic abuse offence, the court imposed a fine of £500. For the common assault conviction, he was fined a further £250.
In addition, the court granted restraining orders in respect of both convictions, prohibiting Brooks from using or threatening violence against his victim and from intimidating, harassing or pestering her.
Following the conviction, the victim issued a detailed public statement, describing the verdict as the end of a 16-month period during which she said she had been unable to speak on legal advice while the case was ongoing.
She confirmed that Brooks, her former fiancé, had been convicted of domestic abuse through coercive control over a three-year period, as well as common assault.
“What the court dealt with was part of a much wider pattern that I disclosed in full to police and prosecutors,” she said.
The victim said she had reported multiple incidents during the relationship, including an incident abroad where she alleged she was left stranded after her phone, passport and money were taken from her.
According to the victim, the abuse did not stop after she reported it, but continued throughout the court process.
“It continued through evasion, delay, and refusal to engage,” she said, claiming that repeated failures to attend interviews or court hearings and a series of adjournments prolonged both the case and her trauma.
“Using delay to avoid accountability is not accidental — it is another form of control,” she said.
“Domestic abuse is not always one moment. It is a pattern. A slow erosion of autonomy, safety and identity, designed to make leaving feel more dangerous than staying,” she said.
She said she had remained silent while her character was questioned, adding: “I did not lie. I did not exaggerate. I did not imagine what I endured.”
She said she decided to name Brooks publicly following the conviction out of a sense of responsibility rather than malice.
“Awareness only matters when it is specific. Patterns only become visible when names are attached. Silence protects the wrong person,” she said.
She urged anyone experiencing fear, control, isolation or intimidation in a relationship to recognise coercive control as abuse and a criminal offence.
“Abuse thrives in secrecy. Today, that secrecy ends,” she added.
The victim concluded by thanking her family and friends for their support throughout the process, saying she would “not carry his lies any further”.
