Man jailed for 'sinister' campaign of harassment against Mayo woman

A Leitrim man who subjected a Mayo woman to a “sinister and disturbing” campaign of harassment has been jailed.

David Moran, aged 33, of Corrabeagh, Gervagh, Mohill, Co Leitrim, previously pleaded guilty at Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court to harassing his victim during a 13-month spell.

The court heard that Moran and his 31-year-old victim met on an online dating site in 2020. They had only met in person once with Moran aggrieved when the injured party told him she would rather be friends due to the distance between them. He and his victim remained in contact and she did not suspect him when the harassment began.

Gda Patrick Coen told the court the offences occurred between November 29 and December 31, 2021. Several obscene road signs were placed close to the victim’s home and in her father’s back garden.

One of the signs called her a “fat bitch” and stated she “likes to ride 15-year-old boys”. The victim’s father discovered a number of the road signs. One of them threatened to cut his daughter's throat.

The woman received almost daily password reset queries for her social media accounts and she would also receive calls from companies who had all her card details and personal details.

When she placed her car for sale on the Done Deal website, she began receiving abusive messages through the site’s messaging app. Some of the abusive communications were picture messages that placed her head on someone else’s body.

Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok accounts were established by someone claiming to be the injured party’s new boyfriend. The accounts followed her friends and family members and posted obscene messages. Fake profiles using photoshopped images of the victim were also created which posted obscene status updates. Vulgar messages purporting to be from the victim were also sent to her employer. 

Moran had set up several email addresses from which to send obscene messages and two of these accounts were traced back to his mobile phone number.

The injured party had set up a trail camera outside her home and a vehicle suspected to be Moran’s Toyota Landcruiser was captured on camera in the early hours.

Gardaí searched the home of the accused and discovered three mobile phones containing photographs of the injured party. Paint used to daub the offensive signs and items used to put the signs together were also found. The defendant later made full admissions.

Moran was aware of the victim’s movement on certain dates but when questioned would not elaborate on how he had that information only stating it came from a female friend.

The court heard how Moran believed the injured party had been stringing him along and developed an “obsession” with her.

In early Snapchat exchanges between the pair, he told the victim that she had been “out to make a c*** of him”. He later apologised and they agreed to be friends.

They had agreed to meet for a drink while she was on a hen night in Carrick-on-Shannon. When she was unable to meet him, Moran again became angry and upset and told her he hoped something awful would happen to her. She blocked his phone number and Snapchat but he sent an apologetic WhatsApp requesting to meet in Galway. He contacted her again telling her he was outside her place of work. The terrified victim left work through a rear entrance. Moran sent an abusive WhatsApp message after she refused to meet him and later sent her a gift voucher apologising for his behaviour.

Moran has one previous conviction.

Senior counsel, Desmond Dockery, representing the accused, said €20,000 will be made available to the injured party by this week as a token of his client's remorse.

Mr Dockery said a psychological report indicated Moran had poor social skills and sees things in “black and white”. He said while Moran is now in a relationship he had never been in one at the time of this offending. The accused had been living with his mother at the time.

Mr Dockery said his client obsessed over the injured party and took out his frustrations on her.

The barrister said Moran, who is a digger operator, has had a “significant fall from grace” and suffered a negative reaction to his actions in his locality.

He contended that the accused is a man who is “capable of waking up from the perversity of his behaviour". A letter from Moran to his victim was read out in court.

“There is no defence for what I did, even though I felt scorned at the time,” he wrote.

Judge Eoin Garavan expressed concern that nobody has “got under the skin” of Moran to explain his appalling behaviour.

“When you do this job a long time you become hardened but this case absolutely astounded me,” said the judge.

Judge Garavan said he was shocked by the sinister and deceitful nature of the crimes, adding that Moran was driven by “hatred and feelings of rejection".

“No drink, no drug issue. He simply felt aggrieved, “Judge Garavan added.

The judge said he remains “deeply troubled that the rationale for the behaviour remains opaque". He jailed Moran for four years, suspending the final year of the sentence.

Judge Garavan commended the courage of the victim and her family.

“You all suffered and I hope this brings an end to the chapter.”