Man jailed for putting Paddy Power worker through ‘almost daily terror’

A man has been jailed for 2½ years for the “insidious” harassment of a woman at her workplace.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that John Behan (53) put the Patricia Budkley, who was the manager of a bookmakers, through "almost daily terror."

She was abused and threatened by Behan over an 18 month period and had to be accompanied to her car after work. She has since moved to work at another location.

Behan, of Edenmore Park, Raheny, pleaded guilty to harassment of Ms Buckley at the Edenmore branch of Paddy Power between September 2014 and March 2016.

He has two previous convictions related to assaulting Ms Buckley by throwing a bottle at her. He received a five month jail term for those offences last May.

Behan told the court that he was “completely ashamed” of his actions and apologised. He said he did not know at the time what Ms Buckley had gone through but he now understood.

Judge Martin Nolan said the harassment had been "persistent, serious and insidious" and had made life miserable for Ms Buckley. He said he did not believe that Behan did not know what he was doing.

Strict conditions

Judge Nolan imposed a 3½ year sentence and suspended the final year on strict conditions. He ordered Behan not to contact Ms Buckley or go within 400 yards of her home or place of work for 15 years.

Garda Eoin Kennedy told Pieter Le Vert BL, prosecuting, that Behan was known as a customer at the store over 15 years and had been a problem for a long time. Ms Buckley and other staff began a diary in the summer of 2014 in which they kept notes of incidents involving him.

Entries in the diary included Behan abusing Ms Buckley in the street and on her way to her car. He would come into the store and stare at her or threaten or abuse her, which could go on for hours. He came into the store in September 2015 and announced to staff: “There is an awful smell of fear for the time is getting near.”

In her victim impact statement Ms Buckley said the threats of violence had a huge effect on her life and she had been unable to sleep as Behan led her to believe he knew where she lived.“How one human being can do this to another is beyond my comprehension,” she said.

She told the court she now needed to reclaim her life and not be looking over her shoulder.

Brian Storan BL, defending, said Behan had a history of alcohol abuse but stopped drinking after his father was killed by a drunk driver in 1993. He then began abusing heroin instead.