A 25-year-old woman who made 363 silent phone calls, many in the middle of the night, to the mother of a woman with whom she was in dispute, has been given an 18 months' suspended sentence by Judge Michael White at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Noeleen Byrne, from Parkview, Tallaght, admitted two counts of persistently making use of the telephone system to cause annoyance, inconvenience and needless anxiety to Ms Elaine Cullen on dates from February 9th to March 5th, and November 4th to December 13th, 2002.
Judge White said he was concerned with the intensity of the calls and the great fear generated in Ms Cullen and her family.
He said he had received a favourable probation report on Byrne, who was otherwise of good character, and the suspension was on four conditions. Judge White directed Byrne to desist contact on a permanent basis with the injured party and her daughter; to remain under the supervision of the Probation and Welfare Service for 12 months; to attend counselling; and to keep the peace for 18 months.
Garda John Malone told the court that Byrne's boyfriend knew the boyfriend of Ms Cullen's daughter, Ms Cathy Lyons, and the two women had met each other on a number of occasions.
An incident occurred in September 2001 when both women were in the same car and Byrne asked Ms Lyons to be a witness for her in a criminal prosecution arising out of it. When the case came to court some months later, Ms Lyons was unable to attend because she was heavily pregnant.