A man who bombarded his ex-partner with 375 calls and texts in ONE day has been remanded in custody.
The man, who is in his 30s, appeared before Letterkenny District Court.
The accused man, who cannot be named for legal reasons to protect the identity of the alleged victim in the case, was brought to court by prison officers as he is currently in custody.
Bail was revoked on older charges and in respect of a new charge of breaching a barring order, bail was refused for the man.
The court heard that the man contacted the woman a total of 375 times, via phone calls, text messages, WhatsApp messages, voice notes and voice mails, in the space of one day.
Mr Michael Shiel, solicitor for the accused, said his client was contacted “on a number of occasions” by the woman herself. “She contacted him on umpteen occasions and the fact is that she is contacting him,” Mr Shiel said.
The court heard that the man’s phone has been seized, but Gardai have to seek a warrant before the court before the device is analysed.
The man was put in the witness box and said he was aware that he was not to contact the woman as part of his bail conditions.
“I have initiated contact on numerous occasions but she has too,” he said.
The man said he found the situation “very difficulty”. Under oath and asked if he would agree not to contact the woman under any circumstances, regardless of the situation, he said: “100 per cent”.
He said the woman contacted a friend of his shortly after his previous court appearance as she was concerned for the accused’s welfare.
He said he felt “under so much pressure to prove to her family that I was worthy of her”.
The man told Judge Éiteáin Cunningham that he has been seeing a child he has with the woman “behind your back, behind Social Services back”.
“How can I win?” the man said. “I am damned if I do and I am damned if I don’t”.
Judge Cunningham said there had been a “flagrant breach” of the court order and reminded the man that one of the conditions was that he was to have no contact whatsoever with the alleged injured party.
“When the court sets bail, it considers the position very carefully and this court does afford the opportunity to take up bail on condition that they are strictly adhered to,” Judge Cunningham said. “I understand that you have reasons, but I have to deal with the application and the conditions set were breached. It is as simple as this: I am satisfied that conditions were breached and, under those circumstances, I have no alternative but to revoke bail”.
Mr Shiel said he was making an application for bail in respect of the new charge against his client.
A Garda witness said that the woman had provided a statement of complaint to gardai. He said that there were concerns that if he were granted bail that he would continue to contact the woman and not abide by the barring order that is in existence.
The woman, speaking via a video link from another room in the courthouse, said she “would like to think that he might have learned something from this”.
Asked if she would be comfortable if the man were granted bail, she said: “If he had no phone, yeah”.
She said that the man has said things that have caused her “hurt and pain”.
“He turns then to call me names,” she said. “I don’t deserve it”.
Mr Shiel asked Judge Cunningham to give his client “one further chance”.
“He has given a sworn undertaking that he will not have any contact,” he said. “He doesn’t have a phone and even if he got a phone he has given a sworn undertaking not to contact her in any way.”
He added that the contact was a “two-way” situation.
Sergeant Jim Collins said that there were no conditions that would allay the fears of gardai.
Judge Cunningham remanded the man in custody to appear again via video link on April 14.
The man is also facing a Circuit Court appearance for assault causing harm to the same woman.
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