BY DAN HILDEBRAN
A Bradford County jury convicted a 33-year-old Starke man on two counts of domestic battery at the conclusion of an April 19 trial.
The state had been seeking a conviction on felony domestic battery by strangulation against David Thomas Ireland, in addition to a misdemeanor battery charge. However, the jury opted for the lesser and included misdemeanor of domestic battery instead of the felony.
According to a sworn complaint, the victim told Bradford deputies on September 2, 2023, that she and her estranged husband argued because he failed to pick up the couple’s two children for the weekend. She added that during the argument, the defendant slapped her in the face, punched her in the face, and choked her until she could not breathe and was rendered unconscious.
Judge James Colaw sentenced Ireland to one year in jail and one-year probation.
