A judge at Galway Circuit Court has apologised to a victim of domestic violence for what he called “this stupid and ridiculous legal system”.

Judge Brian O’Callaghan was speaking at the adjournment of a sentencing hearing due to the ongoing legal aid fees dispute.

He said no dispute should warrant the deferral of cases like this.

It comes as Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan said he will meet the Law Society to discuss the legal aid payments row, which has led to widespread disruption in criminal courts.

Judge O’Callaghan listened to the victim who broke down in court as she described the “extra torture” of this further delay.

She said she had developed a tremor from stress and anxiety and had waited so long for this day so she could begin healing and moving on with her life.

Judge O’Callaghan said she was welcome to speak of her ordeal in court and after setting a new date for sentencing next term, he changed his mind and brought forward the hearing to next Tuesday.

He said it would not mean that other criminal cases would be brought forward as there was “a litany of priorities”, but he said the deferral of this particular case was just wrong.

The judge said he would be very disappointed if this dispute continued into next week with “talk of three days strike action”.

The victim’s former partner was also in court. He pleaded guilty to four charges of domestic violence last December and has been on bail and signing on at a Garda station in another county.

The court heard he pleaded guilty to one count of threatening to kill or cause serious harm to his partner in 2022.

He also admitted two counts of assault causing harm that same year and pleaded guilty to an offence of coercive control contrary to Section 39 of the Domestic Violence Act, between April and July 2022.

During the December hearing Judge O’Callaghan said that normally, given the seriousness of the offences, the man would be remanded in custody prior to sentencing.

However, he said the court could not ignore the fact that Castlerea Prison “was operating at 126% capacity” and there was no instruction to seek a remand in custody.