Cork man who threatened his ex-partner while he was on remand in prison has been jailed

A Cork man who threatened his ex-partner while he was on remand in Cloverhill Prison has been jailed for two years.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard today that the victim received a call from an unknown number on the morning of September 28, 2022. She heard her ex-partner’s voice say: “Your troubles are only starting. You are dead.” She hung up and immediately called gardaí. She then received a text message a few minutes later which stated just because her ex-partner was in custody, it didn’t mean her “troubles are over”.

An investigating garda told Simon Matthews BL, prosecuting, that the man was on remand at the time in relation to charges including burglary, for which his ex-partner was the injured party.

The garda said the woman was left in fear by these two contacts. The man has 26 previous convictions, including two for threats to kill or cause serious harm and one for breach of a safety order. His ex-partner is the injured party in these cases as well, the court was told.

The injured party had given evidence during a High Court bail application. A safety order was also in place at the time the contacts were made by the man, the court was told.

The 26-year-old man was sent forward from the District Court on signed pleas of guilty to a charge of witness intimidation. He can’t be named to protect the anonymity of his victim.

As part of the investigation, gardaí obtained call records from Cloverhill Prison and a recording of the relevant call. When interviewed by gardaí, the man made no comment. No victim impact statement was provided to the court.

The garda agreed with Oisin Clarke BL, defending, that his client had been in a five-year relationship with the injured party. It was also accepted that the two contacts occurred within the space of around three minutes.

It was also agreed that majority of the man’s previous convictions were District Court matters and that he is currently serving a sentence.

Mr Clarke told the court that this relationship was a stabilising influence on his client who relapsed into drug addiction following its end in 2022. His client’s addiction issues were the catalyst for most of his offending but he has taken steps to deal with this, counsel added.

He said his client understands the concern that the victim would have felt when she received these contacts and asked the court to take into account that there was “nothing concrete” behind them. There has been no contact between the parties since then, the court heard.

Mr Clarke said a governor’s report shows his client is doing well in custody and has enhanced prisoner status. He has also completed drugs awareness and anger management courses while in custody.

A letter of apology to the victim was handed to the court.

Judge Orla Crowe noted that the man had made these contacts to someone who he had already threatened and the victim had “every reason to take them seriously”.

She said the man’s previous convictions in relation to this injured party were aggravating features along with the nature of the offence itself, which she described as an attempt to interfere with the administration of justice.

Taking the mitigation and his personal circumstances into account, Judge Crowe imposed a sentence of two years and nine months, backdated to February 6 last when he entered his guilty plea.

Judge Crowe said she would suspend the final nine months on strict conditions to incentivise his progress in custody and continued rehabilitation. She also ordered the man to have no contact with the victim while he is custody and for 18 months post-release.