Suspended sentence for man who harassed pregnant ex with 'pathetic' texts

A Rossnowlagh man bombarded his pregnant ex-partner with a stream of 'pathetic' messages has been given a suspended prison sentence.

After Bryan Hughes was deemed not suitable for community service, the 43-year-old with an address in Rossnowlagh was sentenced to four months in prison.

At Letterkenny Circuit Court, Judge John Aylmer suspended the entirety of the sentence for 12 months.

Hughes pleaded guilty to harassing Gemma Gallagher between August 19, 2018 and February 15, 2019.

The messages began after Ms Gallagher left Hughes just four nights after they moved in together.
Ms Gallagher spoke to Gardai, but initially did not make a complaint.

Hughes turned up at her mother's house in an attempt to see Ms Gallagher. The victim's father spoke to Hughes in an attempt to get him to cease, but the messaging continued.

Ms Gallagher was 25 weeks pregnant when she made a statement of complaint to Gardai. She told officers that she was 'very afraid' of Hughes.

Hughes' sister-in-law turned up to Ms Gallagher's home with a 15-page letter from Hughes and €1,000 in cash.

“A lot of the messages were him trying to get the relationship back,” Garda Laura Dillon said. “A lot of them were extremely immature. They were continuous and caused a lot of stress and anxiety.

“If one method didn't work, he would try to get other people involved.”

Hughes was arrested on December 11, 2018 and detained at Ballyshannon Garda Station. Hughes made admissions, but Garda Dillon said he was also 'critical of the victim and her family'.

After Gardai made an initial call to Hughes' home, the behaviour continued for around three months.

Ms Gallagher wept as she told of the impact of the stream of messages from Hughes. His behaviour had become 'unpredictable' and 'used a lot of insults to me'.

Ms Gallagher felt Hughes was 'completely disinterested in the pregnancy' and she lived 'in fear',

“We only lived together for four nights,” she said. “He lost his temper and exploded and he called me horrible names. He lifted his fist and held it towards me.”

The victim told how she felt that she was being 'constantly watched' and how Hughes approached family members and friends.

Barrister for Hughes, Mr Desmond Dockery SC, said his client 'fell into an extended compulsive and obsessive annoyance'.

“He is not fundamentally bad,” Mr Dockery said. “The compulsive nature of his conduct was borne out of a refusal to desist with it, even following his arrest and detention.

“He couldn't save himself or stop himself from annoying this lady with pathetic, pleading messages.”

Hughes left school early before spending many years working in construction in both the UK and Australia

A leg injury has prevented him from working in the last couple of years and Hughes has expressed a desire to obtain a taxi licence.

Mr Dockery said his client told of being abused by another man when he was aged between six and 12. The DPP subsequently decided not to proceed with the matter.

Hughes, Mr Dockery added, had abused drugs and alcohol and suffered from PTSD and depression.

In this case, Hughes 'lost the plot and couldn't deal with the required emotional maturity to deal with rejection'.

Judge Aylmer said said the harassment merited a sentence of six months in prison before mitigation was considered.

He said the accused was suffering from depression and post traumatic stress disorder at the time and his difficulties were rooted in abuse he suffered as a child.

However, he had been to a large number of counselling sessions, has no previous convictions, is remorseful and has displayed empathy for his victim.

The court was told that an addendum from the Probation Service said Hughes is not suitable for community service. Judge Aylmer initially indicated he would impose 80 hours of community service in lieu of four months imprisonment.

Given the Probation Service report, Judge Aylmer sentenced Hughes to four months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months upon the defendant entering into a bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for 12 months.

Hughes is also to be placed under the supervision of the Probation Service and is to disclose any new intimate relationships.

Hughes was ordered to abstain completely from alcohol and unprescribed drugs.