Waterford court jails man who told his victim, 'I can do what I want'
Waterford Courthouse.
A man has been given an 18-month prison sentence for a spree of breaches of the restraining orders against him.
The man cannot be named for legal reasons.
Inspector Niall Daly told the court that in early January of this year, the injured party heard his neighbour, with whom he had a restraining order against, intoxicated and shouting outside his house.
The following day, he heard him again outside, screaming, “I won the case. Turn on the camera. I can do what I want.”
These incidents, which put the injured party in fear, were caught on camera and the footage was provided to the gardaí.
A third incident was also reported later in the month, where the defendant was again outside shouting about a court case and was arrested.
In a separate incident later in the month, a relative of the defendant, who also had an order against him, reported hearing her doorbell go off at 9:15pm, but there was nobody there.
The defendant was prohibited from being in the area, but the injured party believed it was him and reported it.
Footage from a nearby shop confirmed he had entered the injured party’s gate at the time and left two minutes later.
The court was told that the man had 196 previous convictions, which included breaches of restraining orders, theft and public order offences.
Acting for the defendant, solicitor John Purcell said his client, who is in his 50s, accepts responsibility but does believe that there was no interaction between the parties.
Judge Kevin Staunton asked the solicitor if his client was suggesting that the injured parties come out of their homes to confront him, to which Mr Purcell said no.
But in the first set of incidents, the man was his neighbour, and as he saw it, he was on his own property.
“He maybe didn’t understand how serious the order was,” said Mr Purcell.
The solicitor said that his client has issues with alcoholism and epilepsy, which led to a recent heart attack, which has in turn “slowed down” his drinking.
He also worries about his elderly mother, who is in a nursing home.
The solicitor said his client apologises for his behaviour and has undertaken to comply with the restraining orders from now on and has taken steps to address his alcohol issues.
However, Judge Staunton said that any undertaking by the defendant was “absolutely worthless”.
“He is a person whose life has been destroyed by drink, and I have sympathy for that, but not as much as I do for the people who have to live next to him."
The judge went on to say that whether he can or won’t abide by the restraining orders has the same consequences for his victims.
He said that every time the man comes to court, he makes it “crystal clear” what each order means and so he does not accept that the defendant does not realise the seriousness of the situation.
He said his “patience has well and truly ended” with the defendant, but that he would give him some credit for his guilty plea.
The judge sentenced him to two nine-month prison sentences to run concurrently for the breaches in relation to his neighbour.
For the incident involving his relative, the judge imposed another nine-month sentence to run consecutively.
The judge also fixed him on his own bond of €500 and the gardaí asked for a cash lodgement order.
Judge Staunton said he wouldn’t, but he would require an individual surety, approved by gardaí of €500.
All other matters were taken into consideration.
