Man guilty of breaching restraining order after shopping centre incident

A CARLOW man was found guilty of breaching a restraining order but was given a chance to avoid a conviction when he appeared before the local district court last week. David O’Leary was found guilty of breaching a restraining order, brought against him by Anthony Heaney, arising from an incident in Fairgreen Shopping Centre, Carlow on 12 May this year.

Mr Heaney, who operates the All About Carlow Facebook page, gave direct evidence in the case to Judge Geraldine Carthy, telling her that he and his daughter had gone to the Fairgreen that day to do some shopping in Tesco. He said that he saw Mr O’Leary at one of the entrances into the centre before he and his daughter entered the supermarket and that he saw Mr O’Leary there as well.

Mr Heaney continued that at one stage Mr O’Leary was standing looking at him and that he felt threatened by him.

Solicitor Joe Farrell, acting for the defendant, put it to Mr Heaney that “Carlow is a small place and Mr O’Leary had to go about his business”.

Mr Heaney replied that he often saw the defendant at events and other occasions, but that he tried to do his own thing and not get involved. He continued that Mr O’Leary followed him around on a regular basis and that the situation has been “going on for ten years”.

He also told the court that there were posts on the internet about him, and that he believed Mr O’Leary was responsible for them.

Mr Farrell then put it to Mr Heaney that he had referred to this court case on Facebook, when he wrote: ‘My old stalker is back with his usual s**t’ and ‘I’ll see you in court’. Mr Farrell said that court, and not social media, was the forum to deal with the issue, to which Mr Heaney said that he wrote that “out of frustration” because it was a “continuous, ongoing onslaught” against him by Mr O’Leary.

He told Judge Carthy that the defendant had gone to his place of work and had shouted the word ‘paedophile’ at him several times.

He said that he could tie the online comments back to Mr O’Leary because of the language that was used, but Judge Carthy said that she had to limit the case to what was before the court, that is, the incident at Fairgreen Shopping Centre.

Mr Farrell put it to Mr Heaney that he was perhaps “sensitive” to seeing Mr O’Leary, to which Mr Heaney replied that he was “in fear” in case Mr O’Leary did something to him.

Investigating garda, Garda Michael Coakley, said that Mr Heaney came to Carlow Garda Station that day and made a statement about what had happened. He said that Mr Heaney told him that Mr O’Leary had followed him around Tesco and that a member of the public told him that Mr O’Leary was filming him.

Garda Coakley said that he arrested Mr O’Leary later that day and cautioned him.

Garda Coakley continued that on 27 July he put Mr Heaney’s statement of events to Mr O’Leary, and that Mr O’Leary replied: “I agree with everything he said.” 

When solicitor Joe Farrell asked Garda Coakley if Mr Heaney looked under pressure or frustrated, Garda Coakley replied: “He looked more concerned, because it’s been an issue for a number of years.” 

Mr Farrell then submitted to Judge Carthy that Mr Heaney may have felt “uncomfortable” that day due to the ongoing history between the pair but that he couldn’t have been in fear because he didn’t leave the supermarket immediately.

However, Judge Carthy rejected this and said that Mr O’Leary had a case to answer.

The defendant then took the stand and gave direct evidence. He said that he remembered seeing Mr Heaney at the shopping centre but “stepped away” because he “didn’t want any drama”. He continued that he cycled away from the shopping centre but came back because he needed something in the shop and “saw that the coast was clear”. 

He said that it wasn’t his intention to put Mr Heaney in fear that day and that “in hindsight” he should have given him more time in Tesco.

He said: “It wasn’t my intention to follow him.” 

Mr O’Leary added that he was “100% genuine and sorry for putting him in fear”. He also denied filming Mr Heaney in the supermarket.

Judge Carthy said that she had listened to both sides and that Mr O’Leary himself accepted that he had breached the restraining order. However, she also said that the offence was not on the higher level and that she would give Mr O’Leary a chance to avoid a conviction by paying a donation of €1,000 into the court poor box.

“This is a reasonable outcome for all concerned. No doubt, there will be a lesson learnt here,” said Judge Carthy.

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