Man who attacked teen girlfriend for 'liking' TikTok video has sentence tripled by appeal court

Fiona Magennis

A now 24-year-old man who repeatedly assaulted and coercively controlled his teenage girlfriend, including one instance in which he punched her for “liking” a video on TikTok, will be returned to jail after his original sentence was tripled by the Court of Appeal.

Gavin Lawlor continued to attack his 18-year-old victim even after he was released on bail for assaulting her, with the court hearing how he punched and slapped her and on one occasion locked her in a room. He also removed her phone SIM card so she couldn’t contact her parents and monitored her movements.

Lawlor, with a previous address at Pairc Cluain, Mulgannon, Wexford, pleaded guilty in June 2024 to eight counts of assault causing harm and one count of coercive and controlling behaviour on dates between March 2021 and March 2022.

In April 2025, Judge James McCourt at Wexford Circuit Court sentenced him to two years in prison with the final 12 months suspended. The maximum sentence for each offence was one of five years’ imprisonment.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had sought a review of Lawlor’s term of imprisonment on the grounds that it was unduly lenient.

At the appeal hearing in March, Ed O’Mahony BL, for the DPP, argued that the judge had failed to give sufficient weight to the aggravating factors in the case. He submitted that the parties had been in an intimate relationship and that the second set of offences was committed by Lawlor while he was on bail for the first.

The three-judge Court of Appeal today agreed, overturning Lawlor's original sentence and imposing a new jail term of four years with the final 12 months suspended. They also directed that Lawlor pay €2,000 to his victim, representing the balance of funds transferred from her account to his.

Delivering judgment on behalf of the court on Tuesday, Ms Justice Tara Burns said the court had noted the repeat nature of the offending and the escalation in seriousness, particularly in the context of an intimate relationship.

She noted that in one incident, Lawlor grabbed the victim by the neck and told her that if she ever kissed anyone again, he would break her legs.

Coercive control

Outlining that background to the coercive control offence, the judge said that between March and September 2021 Lawlor continually checked the victim’s phone; instructed her to block any male friends, took the SIM card from the phone so she couldn’t contact her parents; told her she couldn’t go home and monitored her movements.

He also asked the victim to transfer a sum of €2,200 to his account to purchase a mobile home for both of them, which the victim did. Ms Justice Burns said only €200 had been repaid to the victim.

After the victim initially made a complaint to gardaí in September 2021, the couple resumed their relationship but the young woman was again assaulted by Lawlor three days after she moved back in with him.

In a later incident, Lawlor hit the victim in the face with a closed fist after he discovered she had “liked” a video on TikTok, Ms Justice Burns said.

It was “particularly concerning”, the judge said, that having initially been the subject of a complaint to the gardaí and having been charged with assaults, Lawlor recommenced offending as soon as he resumed a relationship with the victim.

Ms Justice Burns said the three-year headline sentence set in respect of the second set of charges, which were aggravated by the fact they were committed while Lawlor was on bail, did not adequately reflect the seriousness of the offending.

She said the sentencing judge had “clearly erred” in imposing concurrent sentences with respect to both sets of offences.

The judge noted that the second tranche of assaults was committed while Lawlor was on bail and must therefore be served consecutively to any sentence for earlier offences. She added that offending while on bail is, by law, an aggravating factor.

These errors led the judge to impose a sentence which was a “substantial departure from the norm”, Ms Justice Burns said, amounting to an unduly lenient sentence.

She set a new headline sentence of three years in respect of the first set of offences and three and a half years for the second, reducing each by 12 months after mitigation, with each sentence to run consecutively.

Ms Justice Burns said the court would further reduce each sentence by three months to take account of the principle of totality, giving an overall a term of four years, backdated to when he first went into custody.

Probation report

Having received a positive probation report and given Lawlor’s regular attendance at rehabilitation programmes, she said the court would suspend the final 12 months of the jail term.

Lawlor’s sentencing hearing was told that the injured party made complaints to gardaí in September 2021 but resumed the relationship that December, before again going to gardai in April the following year.

Across the two statements, she detailed assaults that included punches and slaps to the head and face as well as various threats and insults. On one occasion Lawlor locked her in a room. In a later assault, he punched her in the left eye and struck her multiple times on her back, causing bruises. On another occasion he began assaulting her in a pub and continued when they got home.

Lawlor was 20 when the offending began and the victim had just turned 18.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact Women’s Aid (24-hour freephone helpline at 1800-341 900, email helpline@womensaid.ie) or Men’s Aid Ireland (confidential helpline at 01-554 3811, email hello@mensaid.ie) for support and information. 

Safe Ireland also offers a number of local services and helplines at safeireland.ie/get-help/where-to-find-help/. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.