Victim ‘distressed’ by letter and text messages

A 44-YEAR-OLD man delivered a ‘hand-written’ letter to a woman’s house before sending harassing text messages, a court has heard.

At Omagh Magistrates Court on Tuesday, Adrian O’Reilly, of Gortin Road, Omagh, was convicted of harassment.

The court heard that, on April 21, the sister of the victim was first informed of a message from the defendant, asking how she was, which the victim ignored. However, one week later, the victim claimed that O’Reilly attended her home address and put a ‘hand-written letter’ through her post box.

In the hours following, leading into the early hours of May 1, the defendant sent a further eight messages to the victim, despite being told not to contact her, causing her distress.

Defence solicitor, Michael Fahy, told the court that O’Reilly had a number of mental health difficulties from his teenage years which were ‘not his fault’. Mr Fahy added that O’Reilly had no relevant criminal record and no history of violence.

District Judge Ted Magill acknowledged O’Reilly’s intention to no longer pursue a relationship with the victim, but noted that domestic incidents were on the rise. Judge Magill said that the court had seen ‘far worse’ cases of harassment and asked O’Reilly if this would ever happen again, to which the defendant responded, “Definitely not.”

O’Reilly was sentenced to three months imprisonment, which was suspended for two years, alongside a restraining order in favour of the victim for two years.