Man who threatened to pour acid over ex-girlfriend’s face avoids jail

A man who threatened to pour acid in the face of a woman he met over a dating app has been described as “a monster” by the victim.

Jack Cleary (25) of The Green, Beaumont Woods, Beaumont, Dublin 9, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to threatening to kill Leanne Maher on July 15th, 2020. An additional charge of harassment was taken into account. He has no previous convictions.

The court heard, when evidence was given last year, that following the breakdown of the relationship, Cleary told Ms Maher during a phone call that he would throw acid on her face and that he would kill her. He was screaming down the phone at her.

He later appeared outside her home. Her children alerted her to his presence by screaming for her and she could see Cleary sitting outside in his car. She immediately called the gardaí­ but she later got another call from Cleary.

He told her the only reason her home “was not in rubble” was because he knew her daughter slept in the same room as her.

Judge Melanie Greally sentenced Cleary to four years in prison but suspended it for four years on condition that he engage with the Probation Service for 12 months and not have any contact, either directly or indirectly, with Ms Maher or come within 500 meters of her family home for those four years.

She noted that Cleary had ongoing mental health difficulties and said he “had neglected his mental health needs during the currency of the offending”.

She said he has since re-engaged with the appropriate services and is considered to be stable and at a reduced risk of re-offending.

“I readily understand and realise that Ms Maher has been damaged and her family life has been damaged,” Judge Greally said before she added that the offending took place over an extended period of time.

“It was serious and menacing and would cause any sane person to have real fears for their safety,” Judge Greally added.

She said, however, that Cleary was entitled to credit for his early guilty plea, his admissions to gardaí, his lack of previous convictions and the fact that he has since addressed his mental health difficulties and has had no further contact with Ms Maher.

“An immediate custodial sentence is not necessary,” Judge Greally said.

Ms Maher spoke out in court and said “there is no justice in it”.

“How dare he stand there smirking. Where is the justice in that? How do I live a normal life after what he did?” she asked.

“My children are not going to get over what he has done. He has traumatised my three children and he is standing there smiling when my children are afraid in their beds. He is a monster,” Ms Maher said.

Judge Greally addressed Ms Maher in court and said she could report any contact by Cleary to her to the gardaí. She added that she appreciated that Ms Maher would have hoped for a different outcome.