A man who struck his wife with a livestock whip, repeatedly threatened and called her abusive names, insisted on knowing who she was meeting and constantly made sexual demands of her will be sentenced next month, having pleaded guilty to a charge of coercive control.The Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork heard that the 50-year-old would blame his wife if she had her period when he wanted to have sex, while he also sulked when required to go to family events which did not appeal to him.Judge Siobhan Lankford was told the victim in the case often wished she was dead during the campaign of abuse towards her. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, hurled the abusive term “c**t” at her on numerous occasions.He subjected the woman to what she described as daily “torture”.His now former wife opted to make a victim impact statement to the court. She said her life was a constant cycle of being degraded. Her husband was always mocking her appearance and weight, and he undermined and criticised her every effort in life.She said he once referred to their home and stated: “I will burn you in it you c**t before you live in it.” She recalled that on one occasion when she refused to have sex with him, he said she had “energy for everything else” and that he was “well down the list”.The woman said she spent a lot of time crying in her bedroom, as the foul language towards her never stopped.“It is so difficult to put into words the full extent and effect of coercive control – but the two words I would use are relentless and torturous.“The constant critical and demeaning running commentary in everything I did – the name-calling never stopped.”She said her husband tried to isolate her and control who she did or did not see. “I became a shell of myself ... I could not continue to live this way. I knew I had to leave the relationship for my children.”The man, who has four previous convictions and who previously spent time in prison arising from a fatal incident, admitted that he “knowingly and persistently engage[d] in behaviour that was controlling and coercive with the intention of having a serious effect on the relevant person”. The offending behaviour related to his behaviour from January 1st, 2019, to September 8th, 2020.The man said individuals in his family were known for having short tempers. His defence barrister Brendan Grehan indicated that his client had self-referred to a programme called Men Overcoming Violent Emotions (MOVE) in a bid to address his anger issues.Grehan said there was not “any exemption for [the family] temper under the law”.“There is no excuse. He cannot escape his personal responsibility by blaming it on family genetics.“He wants to apologise to her for his behaviour. He wishes her well. Furthermore, he hopes that they can both be good parents [to their children].”Sentencing in the case has been adjourned until June 3rd.