A retired council worker who harassed a woman garda after she arrested him for dangerous driving was jailed for 10 months yesterday.
Tony Kelly (59), Pinetree Crescent, Tallaght, Dublin, denied harassing Garda Orla Brennan by text and fax messages between June 19th and 22nd, 2003. He claimed he was trying to contact her to serve High Court summonses alleging that he had been abused in custody, although gardaí said he had tried to cut his wrists while in a cell.
Dublin District Court heard Garda Brennan first encountered Kelly when she was called to a road traffic accident he had been involved in at Holles Street, Dublin, on June 18th, 2003.
Two witnesses told the court they saw Kelly use his car to pin another man against his car after he had got out to remonstrate with Kelly following a minor collision. The other driver's knee and elbow were injured and he was taken to hospital.
Kelly told the witnesses, who prevented him from leaving the scene, that he was a garda and would "do" them if they did not mind their own business.
When Garda Brennan arrived, Kelly told her he was a member of the special detective unit and had just been "on the phone to the (Garda) Commissioner's private secretary and everything was under control". He had no identity on him and was arrested and taken to Pearse Street Garda station by another officer.
At 1.23am the following morning, Garda Brennan received the first of 11 text messages on her mobile phone, whose number he claimed to have got from a senior garda.
In the messages, he accused her of perverting the course of justice, of being "a danger to the public" and demanding to meet her so that he could serve on her plenary High Court summonses which he had obtained himself, alleging assault by other gardaí while in custody after his arrest.
One of the texts said: "Complaints have been made against you for theft of property, physical assault, sexual and indecent assault, let a judge and jury decide", while another said: "I am praying to my dead parents to curse you, you are a very evil person". In fax messages, he claimed he knew where she lived in Kildare, had friends living there and was going to buy property near her.
Garda Brennan said she felt very frightened and upset by the messages and he seemed to know where she lived.
Kelly admitted he sent the messages but denied he was harassing or stalking her. "I have never done anything to her though maybe it was the wrong way to go about serving [the High Court] summonses."
Insp Brendan Connolly said when Kelly was first arrested after the accident, he was taken to hospital after injuring himself while in a cell. When he was again arrested a few days later, following the text and fax messages to Garda Brennan, he started to try to cut his wrist while in the cell and a small blade was found.
Judge John Coughlan said it was clear there were no grounds for any of the allegations against Garda Brennan or any other gardaí. He imposed 10 months on the harassment charge and four months concurrent in relation to the dangerous driving charge relating to the Holles Street incident.