Man breached safety order granted to ex-wife by sending letters addressed to family dog

A judge has found a man breached a safety order granted to his ex-wife when addressing post to the couple’s dog at the woman’s home.

The letter was one of a number of communications sent in the post to the dog in May and June of last year that also included a copy of the Constitution and a bag of dog food that prompted gardaí to arrest the man for an alleged breach of the safety order.

Finding that the communications with the dog were a breach, the judge said: “I am not at all satisfied that those letters should have been sent.”

He said: “The Constitution and letters to the dog? I just don’t think that they are appropriate.”

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The three-year safety order granted to the woman in April 2022 stipulated that there would be no communication from the man.

The man told the judge he didn’t believe he was breaching it as the post was addressed to the dog.

The judge said given the dog couldn’t read the letter, it was his ex-wife who was going to read it and it could be seen as intimidatory.

The man denied this, saying it was only a bag of dog food and “she goes berserk”. He said he wasn’t doing it “out of malice”.

The couple separated a number of years ago and are now divorced.

The man also sent €80 for dog grooming.

“The only reason I sent those things was because the dog is my dog as well as my ex-wife’s,” he said.

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On the €80 for the dog, the woman said: “This was the same man who wouldn’t give me one single penny in maintenance.” She said she had been subjected to a campaign of harassment from him.

“He was well aware that he shouldn’t communicate with me and that is why he twisted it around to communicate with the dog,” she said.

The judge said that he would adjourn sentencing to February to allow the Probation Services to carry out a report.