A 62-year-old grandmother who posted soiled underwear to a couple she had been harassing over a two-year period, has been jailed for three years with the final two years suspended.
Goretti O’Dowd, of 3 Parkmore Estate, Tuam, pleaded guilty before Galway Circuit Criminal Court last May to three charges of harassment involving two people at various locations in the town, on various dates between May, 2012 , and October, 2014.
Prosecuting barrister, Conor Fahy, said at the time that the plea was acceptable on the basis that facts in two other harassment charges involving a third person, were admitted.
Sentence was adjourned on a number of occasions in the interim as defence barrister, Conal McCarthy explained he needed time to obtain a comprehensive psychiatric report on his client, whom he said, had a long history of mental health issues and was under the care or the psychiatric services.
Garda David Comer gave evidence at the sentence hearing that a woman attended Tuam Garda Station on May 15, 2012 and made a complaint she and her family were being harassed by O’Dowd on an ongoing basis for the previous two years.
Garda Comer said he obtained a warrant and searched O’Dowd’s house in Parkmore on June 28, 2013, where he found a number of writing pads, which contained writing paper very similar to that used in abusive letters sent to the injured parties.
O’Dowd was detained for questioning following the search but she made no admissions.
Garda Comer said the harassment continued and further statements of complaint were taken from the victims.
A file was prepared for the DPP and after that O’Dowd was arrested and charged with harassment on December 9, 2014.
Garda Comer confirmed all harassment stopped once criminal proceedings were brought against O’Dowd.
He explained O’Dowd had been besetting the injured parties and their children on an ongoing basis and she regularly sat in her car outside their home.
They had recorded 70 different incidents of harassment over the two years.
Garda Comer said O’Dowd would mock the victims in public and make insulting and upsetting comments about them to their children. She regularly made rude hand gestures towards them and made sexual gestures towards them in public on several occasions.
Garda Comer said he could not establish any reason why O’Dowd was doing this and when arrested she refused to give an explanation.
“Maybe it’s linked to incidents that took place in the late 2000’s but I’m not sure,” he told the court.
At their request, Garda Comer read both victims’ impact statements into evidence.
In his statement, the man said O’Dowd had made his life a living hell and he didn’t know how a mother/woman would be so cruel as she had terrified the children who woke up at night crying.
He said he could not remember when his partner had a full night’s sleep as she was constantly in fear of O’Dowd coming into their home.
He said they had been subjected to a tirade of filthy abuse and O’Dowd had even posted filthy underwear to their home.
He said he could not go out in comfort and was in constant fear for his partner and the children when he was gone.
“All we want is to be happy and have our lives back. Please give us our lives back and the lives of our children,” his statement concluded.
In her impact statement, his partner said she hoped justice would be served immediately because due to the persecution, harassment and bullying O’Dowd had subjected her to over the years, she had forgotten what it was like to have a night’s sleep.
“I’m living in fear morning, noon and night. My children suffer the same torture and persecution. I’m afraid returning home because Goretti O’Dowd might be outside hurling abuse and foul language at us. I do not feel safe in my own home,” she said.
Mr Fahy said O’Dowd had two previous convictions.
She had been convicted of making a hoax phone call at Tuam District Court on December 15, 2006, for which she received a one-month suspended sentence.
Then, on February 22, 2009, she was convicted of harassment and received a three-month suspended sentence for that on condition she stay away from a named family in Tuam. The date of the harassment offence, he added, was August 29, 2006.
Mr Fahy said it was noteworthy that the latest harassment stopped once criminal proceedings commenced and he asked Garda Comer if he believed O’Dowd had learnt her lesson.
Garda Comer said he believed she would continue to harass if she did not receive some kind of medical assistance.
Mr McCarthy said his client had two grown-up children and two grandchildren and had worked in catering in a local factory for most of her life.
The court was told O’Dowd had been getting psychiatric support in the past but had fallen away from availing of the service.
Judge Rory McCabe said the continuous, prolonged nature of the harassment placed it at the high side on the scale of gravity.
The harassment took many forms, he said, and its impact on the victims was severe.
Referring to her psychiatric report, Judge McCabe said it concluded the accused had “a very complex and indeterminable psychiatric profile” and there was no doubt she needed help.
He said that while he was being told the accused was currently receiving therapy there was no guarantee she would continue to receive it once she stepped outside the doors of the courthouse.
“It seems to me she will not concentrate her attentions on this unless she’s placed in ‘a controlled environment’ and there is a very real risk of recidivism and a questionable hope of rehabilitation if she is not,” Judge McCabe said.
He sentenced O’Dowd to three years in prison with the final two years suspended for five years.
He directed she have no contact with her victims or any members of the victims’ families and he also directed she be assessed and given the appropriate treatment and follow-up care while in prison.
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