Judge condemns 'vicious conduct' by Shannon man over false Facebook paedophile claims

Gordon Deegan

A judge has stated that a 43-year-old Shannon man subjected two innocent men to "a drive-by shooting by the Internet" when falsely claiming on Facebook that the two were paedophiles.

At Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Francis Comerford said that carpenter, Martin Hannon, engaged in ‘vicious and callous’ behaviour when making the completely false statements that the two “wholly innocent men” were paedophiles.

The court heard that as a result of Mr Hannon’s Facebook post, one man fled Shannon in terror in his gym gear without his belongings, while another man became a target of online hate and felt that there was a bounty on his head.

Judge Comerford stated that Mr Hannon “carried out actions that put two completely innocent persons at very serious immediate risk and also had the obvious consequence that it was going to cause great distress in their lives”.

Judge Comerford said: “What he did by public statements was to tell the world at large wrongly, callously, stupidly and irrationally that these wholly innocent men were paedophiles.”

In the case, Mr Hannon of Tradaree Court, Shannon has pleaded guilty to a stalking offence from November 2nd to November 16th, 2023, against the two innocent men.

Judge Comerford said that the only reason the two were identified by Mr Hannon as paedophiles was for them to pull into a Shannon petrol station and get petrol.

Counsel for the State, Sarah Jane Comerford BL (instructed by State Solicitor for Clare, Aisling Casey) said that on November 7th, 2023, gardaí became aware of a Facebook post where Mr Hannon posted: “Lads, these are the sick paedos who tried to grab a 13-year-old girl into a car yesterday evening along with other young girls”.

He went on: “If anyone sees these scum in Shannon or anywhere and if you can get me to them, then there is a €1,000 reward. Ye will be looked after by us."

He added: “Cable ties and baseball bats are at hand and if the Gardai have a problem with my post, then do something about it and be pro-active.”

The post was accompanied by photos of cars and their registration plates at the petrol station along with a photo of the home of one of the men.

Ms Comerford said that the background to this commenced on November 2nd 2023 when a mother and girl known to Mr Hannon attended at Shannon Garda Station to report that cars had passed the two and shouting from a car had put the girl in fear.

Ms Comerford said that the only description was that one car was white and one was black.

Ms Comerford said that on the same day, the two innocent men - who did not know each other - stopped at different times at a Texaco filling station in Shannon and one owned a black car and the other owned a white car.

Ms Comerford said that an example of the comments to Mr Hannon’s post included describing the two as 'dirty scumbags’ and being 'very scared for our kids’.

In the case, Mr Hannon has narrowly escaped being sent to prison after Judge Comerford imposed a fully suspended 32-month prison term on the accused.

Judge Comerford said that there was a strong case to mark Mr Hannon’s “callous and vicious conduct” with a prison sentence.

However, Judge Comerford said that he would fully suspend the prison term after taking into account his guilty plea, that he has shown genuine remorse, being a first time offender, his opportunity for rehabilitation outside prison and that the offence was founded on his mental health issues.

Judge Comerford also imposed a €5,000 fine on Mr Hannon and ordered him to stay off social media for the 32 month suspended period.

In a hand-written letter read out in court by counsel for Mr Hannon, Aaron Desmond BL (Instructed by solicitor, Stiofan Fitzpatrick), Mr Hannon said that he wanted to say “how sorry I am for the wrongs I have done”.

Mr Hannon said that he wanted "to express my deepest apologies to the two men".

He said: “From the bottom of my heart I am truly very sorry. I am sorry for bringing this negative impact on you both. Every morning I wake up with a guilty conscience.

I just wish I could turn back the hands of time…I am ashamed of my actions and I let myself and my family down.”

In a victim impact statement read out in court, one of the men falsely accused by Mr Hannon said that arising from what he described as Mr Hannon’s “malicious” actions, “almost overnight I became a target of online hate and public suspicion”.

The man said that the reward “only increased the sense of danger”.

He said: “I was afraid to leave my home or to travel to work."

The man said that the false accusation “turned my daily life into a waking nightmare”.

“This reward felt like a bounty on my head. I felt terrified not only for myself but for my family.”

At the time, the man - who is a native of a country in Asia, but was living in Limerick - said: “I stayed off the streets, stayed off public transport and essentially locked myself in for weeks.”

In the victim impact statement provided by the second victim to court he said that he had to “flee in terror from the town I was living in” due to "the false accusations and threats made against me online".

He said: “I had been followed to my home and there was a call out online for help to catch me.”

The man from a Leinster county said: “I was absolutely terrified and rather than go back to the house, I fled from the garda station in my gym gear to my family home three hours away without any of my belongings."