Prison for photographer who beat, sexually assaulted and mentally tortured partner

A man from Ballyhaunis, County Mayo has been sentenced to eight years imprisonment at the Central Criminal Court for a sustained campaign of domestic violence against his former partner spanning seven years. Mark White, aged 54, pleaded guilty to six counts of assault causing harm, one count of threatening to kill and one count of sexual assault at their family home between 2010 and 2017. The court heard White subjected his partner to beatings, including an attack when she was 24 weeks pregnant, broke bones in her face and drove a vehicle towards her at speed. He also held a knife to her throat and sexually assaulted her. Some incidents occurred in front of their two children. White left the jurisdiction before gardai could interview him in 2019 and was subsequently arrested at Dublin Airport in November 2024 following a European Arrest Warrant. Mr Justice Paul McDermott imposed a headline sentence of eleven years, reduced to nine years and six months, with the final eighteen months suspended.