A father assaulted his special needs son with “church oil”, the Dublin District Family Court heard today.

A mother said that over the weekend, her husband pushed their teenage son, who has special needs, down on the couch, forcefully making a cross on his forehead with church oil, and also put some in his mouth.

She said she was not sure which church the oil was associated with, but said it was one from a West African country.

In a statement to the court, she said she had to force her husband off her son, and her husband then tried to choke her.

She is afraid of her husband and believes he is going crazy, she said in her statement.

Judge Gerard Furlong granted the mother an interim barring order against her husband.