Man spared jailed for breaching protection order with threatening messages
A man who sent threatening voice messages to his former partner in breach of a protection order has been given a two-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.
Gardai told Tallaght District Court that on August 9, 2023, the man, who is aged in his 30s and cannot be identified for legal reasons, sent voice messages to the mother of his children. The court heard the voice notes were threatening and put her in fear, in breach of a protection order made at Dolphin House on November 9, 2022.
The defendant pleaded guilty to breaching a protection order contrary to the Domestic Violence Act, 2018.
Judge Liz Healy said a probation report on the defendant was “not as positive as it could have been”. She said it raised concerns about his engagement with services and his views in relation to intimate partner violence, noting that the impact of the behaviour appeared to have been minimised.
The man told the court that he had missed appointments because he had moved house and had not received the letters.
Defence counsel, Ciara Ní Ghabhann BL, said her client did not intend to come across in that way and said the Probation Service may have taken him up the wrong way.
Judge Healy said engagement with services such as the MOVE Ireland programme could help address these issues.
“You pleaded guilty, so I am going to convict you,” Judge Healy said.
She imposed a sentence of two months in prison, suspended for 12 months, on condition that the man engage fully with the Probation Service and do everything required of him during that period.
A fine of €350 was also imposed, with six months to pay.
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