A TEACHER who claims she was harassed by a former boyfriend over a four-year period was completely shocked when he moved into a house where he had a “bird’s eye view” of her front door, Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard yesterday.
Séamus Quirke (46), Glencullen, Duntahane, Fermoy, Co Cork, has pleaded not guilty to four charges of harassing Gráinne Barry (35), on various occasions between 2005 and 2008 and to one count of criminal damage.
Yesterday Judge Patrick Moran and a jury of 10 men and two women heard from Ms Barry that she had dated Mr Quirke (46) for a few years in the 1990s when they both lived in Waterford. They broke up in 1996 and Ms Barry did not see him for 12 months and then for a further eight years.
She said that on February 19th, 2005, a friend called to her home in Castlewell in Limerick, as they were to drive to Birr, Co Offaly.
They first called to a local petrol station and as she was going into the premises another person came abruptly through the door.
Ms Barry said she recognised the man as Mr Quirke. As she left she said she could see him sitting in his car staring at her.
She said he then followed them in his car for part of the journey.
The court heard from Ms Barry that two or three weeks later she was attending a meeting at a hotel in Fermoy when she saw Mr Quirke enter the bar.
In April 2005 when she was working at a school in Mitchelstown, she saw him in a car park near the school. He then followed her as she drove to Cork city.
Ms Barry said initially she did not want to bring the matter before the courts because she was concerned about the impact publicity might have on her job.
In July 2005, she said she saw him drive past her home in Castlewell, Limerick. Then she heard a screech of brakes and the car reversing and she rang gardaí.
She bought a house in Glencullen in Fermoy in 2006, and a few months later became aware that Mr Quirke had bought a house in the same estate.
The case continues.