An Armagh man who tried to rekindle his relationship with an old flame has been ordered to pay £250 in compensation after breaching a non-molestation order.
The 35-year-old’s solicitor told court: “He has since moved on and is in a new relationship; he is the freshest I have seen him in a long time”.
Padraig O’Hare, of Newtownhamilton Road, pleaded guilty to breach of a non-molestation order at the City’s Magistrates’ last Tuesday.
Prosecution outlined that on May 14, police in Armagh were contacted by their Lisburn counterparts regarding an alleged breach of a non-molestation order.
The injured party claimed to have received several messages from an anonymous Facebook account on April 24 and 25.
She believed they were sent by the defendant due to the nature of the messages, in them O’Hare was requesting a chance to talk and told her it was not too late.
During interview, O’Hare denied the offence but further messages were later sent from an email address which included his name at the end of April.
The order had been imposed at Lisburn Magistrates’ on April 2 of 2019.
Prosecution commented that messages were not considered abusive but were considered a breach.
Defence solicitor Oisin Toner stated: “This is a man who lives with his mother, he had been working for a lengthy period of time a tarmacking on the Isle of Wight.
“He returned to this jurisdiction and had hoped to rekindle this relationship, this persistent contact with the injured party had the thrust of reconciliation.”
He continued: “He has since moved on and is in a new relationship, he is the freshest I have seen him in a long time.
“He has had no contact with the injured party for a number of months now, this was a low point at which he released the relationship was irretrievable”.
District Judge Paul Copeland stated: “Although not threatening, the very contact with this woman was in violation of this order, it affected her mentally and psychologically as it was pestering and harassing in nature”.
O’Hare was handed a conditional discharge for two years and was ordered to pay compensation of £250 within 15 weeks.
