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An OFF-DUTY garda assaulted in her own home by her partner told a court that she believed she was going to die during the attack.
In a victim impact report, Meihan Meng described how she began tapping her fingers on the floor to let her husband know she couldn’t breathe while holding her on the kitchen floor and strangling her.
Kai Zhu (39) of Sandymount Avenue, Ranelagh, Dublin 6, pleaded guilty in Dublin Circuit Court to assault and injury to his wife at their home on Sandymount Ave. on May 13.
Garda Oliver McStravick told Antonia Boyle BL, accuser, that he attended the home that morning and found the victim with marks on his neck and bruises on his face and cheeks.
She said the victim had just finished a long night shift and asked her husband to bring their three-year-old daughter to play so she could get some sleep in their small apartment.
The court heard that her husband did not do this and the parents began to row. The woman told gardaí that she made a video call to her mother-in-law in China so she could witness the dispute.
She said her husband was ignoring her and approached him and said, “What’s wrong with you?”
She said that Zhu then turned to her and slapped and punched her in the face five to six times. He used one hand to strangle her against a kitchen press and continued to slap and hit her with the other hand.
The victim said her daughter was in the kitchen screaming and crying and that at some point she may have passed out. When she got closer, her husband was picking her up holding her by the neck and he started hitting her and slapping her again.
At one point he felt a sharp pain on the side of his face and lost his hearing. A medical report indicated that he suffered a temporary hearing loss and is still receiving follow-up treatment for it.
The video call with Zhu’s mother was still happening on the victim’s mobile phone, but Zhu took the phone and broke it.
After his arrest, Zhu admitted to assaulting his wife, but claimed that she hit him first by hitting him on the back with the child’s chair. He said that they were both stressed from work and that they both slept less than three hours.
“We started an altercation over trivial family problems. We were both restless. I didn’t realize it was that bad. In China it is common, we usually put it together the next day, ”Zhu told Gardaí, through a Chinese translator.
He denied strangling her and said he only slapped her and not hit her.
In a victim impact report, read by Boyle, the woman described losing consciousness as her husband pinned her to the kitchen floor and used his hands to strangle her.
When she turned around, she said that Zhu was still on top of her and that she had one hand clasped around her neck while “slapping” her face with the other hand.
I could barely breathe. I thought it would be completely plain and simple as I could only see red and black in my eyes. I used my fingers to tap the ground to indicate that I couldn’t breathe.
She said that after the attack she asked herself “where did I go wrong and why would he hate me so much”.
She said she keeps waking up every night from nightmares where she is hit in the face and said her daughter has been left with irreparable emotional scars.
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She described the attack as “life threatening, terrifying, unknown and terrifying” and said that she now closes her front door with four sets of locks and has to remind herself every morning that the defendant will not be able to hurt her.
The court heard that the victim was out of work on sick leave for 46 days after the assault.
Keith Spencer BL, in defense, said the case was emblematic of the times we live in, where people confined to a small space became irritable and frustrated.
He said that in his client’s case this unfortunately erupted into a situation that should never have happened and that has led to the breakup of an old loving family.
He said his client admits to the assault and is deeply regretful and apologetic for his actions. He said Zhu insists he did not initiate the physical altercation, but admits that he acted disproportionately.
At the time, he said that Zhu was under a lot of stress and that he was involved in trying to import 300,000 euros worth of PPE into Ireland from China. He said that while Zhu was in custody for three weeks after the assault, awaiting his release on bail, the shipment reached Dublin Port but could not be released.
Judge Karen O’Connor ordered Zhu to remain out on sentencing bail next Wednesday.
Comments are closed due to ongoing legal proceedings.
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