'Move on': Judge directs man to delete footage of ex-girlfriend from his phone

Gordon Deegan

A judge has warned of the "threats of TikTok" as he directed a man to delete all photos and videos of his ex-girlfriend from his mobile phone.

At the Family Law Court in Ennis, the man gave a sworn undertaking to stay away from his ex-girlfriend after being told by Judge Alec Gabbett: "There are plenty more fish in the sea. Off you go. Leave her alone."

Judge Gabbett noted the man "has not been dealing very well with the break-up, and he needs to move on", adding that with social media it is now "far too easy to communicate with each other, and that's the problem".

"There is a great facility on mobile phones called 'Block'," the judge said.

The man gave a sworn undertaking from the witness box that he would not put the woman in fear, communicate with her by phone, online or Snapchat, nor watch or beset her.

The man gave the sworn undertaking on the basis that the temporary Protection Order the woman had previously obtained against him in court on an ex-parte basis would be struck out.

The man's solicitor, Shiofra Hassett, said the contents of the woman’s statement grounding the Protection Order "were inflammatory and denied".

Asked by Judge Gabbett if he had photographs and videos of the woman on his mobile phone, the man replied that he did, prompting the judge to instruct him to "delete them today".

Judge Gabbett warned the man that gardaí could search his phone, to which Ms Hassett explained: "The photos are not in that vein, judge – in case the court thought they were of a certain nature. They were not part of the case."

In reply, Judge Gabbett said: "The court will assume that they are of a certain nature – I don’t live under a rock."

He added: "It is the same for all people of this age – there are threats of Tik-Tok and all sorts of things going on."

Judge Gabbett told the woman: "If he gives you further trouble, you need to come back here, and we will sort it out for you, okay?"

The judge told the man he "has all the hallmarks of someone who will end up with a criminal record", warning that he would not get past Garda vetting for aspects of his work if such instance.

The court heard there were no physical issues in the case – the grounds for the Protection Order concerned communication after the couple had broken up.