A Banbridge man who harassed his ex-partner and turned up at her door has been jailed for two months.
Adrian Grehan, of Summerhill, was also hit with a restraining order in respect of the victim for a period of two years.
The 36-year-old’s case was heard at Craigavon Magistrates’ Court, with the defendant pleading guilty to one charge of harassment.
The prosecution outlined that on September 28 this year, police received a report from the injured party stating that the defendant, her ex-partner, had been at her front door, in breach of a non-molestation order that was in place.
Police attended her address and were shown Ring doorbell footage of the defendant at her door a number of minutes prior to police arrival.
Whilst police were at the injured party’s home, the defendant called her and spoke to police, who advised him of the breach and requested he attend a police station.
A statement was then recorded from the injured party in relation to ongoing harassment stemming from September 25.
The prosecution further noted that a restraining order was being sought and the victim referred to “constantly being phoned and receiving text messages from the defendant”.
A defence lawyer, noting that the defendant had been in custody since October 20, asked the judge for credit for the way in which he had dealt with the matter, noting that his client knows that the relationship had come to an end.
Explaining that most of the messages were directed at contact with children, he conceded that they were “overzealous and sometimes bordering on inappropriate”.
Deputy District Judge Mateer described the case as a “nasty form of harassment”, referring to some of the text messages.
He continued: “Against a background where you have this history of violence, disorderly behaviour way back in 2013, then a gap in your record until 2018, when you were in the Magistrates’ Court for a number of common assaults, disorderly behaviour and making a threat to kill.
“I’m told that does not relate to the same injured party. If it did relate to the same injured party your sentence would be very much different from the one I’m about to impose.”
Grehan was sentenced to two months in custody and a restraining order was granted for a period of two years.
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