A Tipperary man will be sentenced next month for harassment after he stalked his former girlfriend for more than six months in an attempt to rekindle their relationship.
David Nevin (40) sent text messages to Patricia Dardis, phoned her, emailed her, sent faxes to her office, hand-written notes to her home, turned up at her place of work and home, and at one point tried to contact the chief executive of the firm where she worked.
Nevin of Terryglass, Nenagh, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to harassment of Ms Dardis from August 2012 to February 2013 at locations in Dublin.
He has a previous conviction for harassment of another former partner from Cork Circuit Criminal Court in May 2011 for which he was bound to the peace.
Garda Sonia Skelly told Anne Marie Lawlor BL, prosecuting, that Nevin contacted Ms Dardis on a daily basis and on some occasions he had tried to communicate with her 40 times in one day.
Ms Dardis was in a relationship with Nevin from March 2010 until January 2011 and she had helped him secure finance for a car during that time. When the relationship ended loan repayments were being deducted from her account and she contacted Nevin in order to get it repaid.
He initially didn’t repay her and she contacted gardaí but she withdrew the complaint when she received some money back.
Ms Dardis was out of the country in April 2011 when Nevin contacted her to say he had been diagnosed with cancer. He picked her up from Dublin Airport and she agreed to let him stay with her.
The relationship resumed for a short time but ended again in June 2011 when Ms Dardis told Nevin she wanted no further contact.
Garda Skelly told the court Nevin began to harass Ms Dardis in August 2012. He used four phones and two different email addresses.
She outlined the content of some of the messages which said “ignore me and see what will happen”; and another which said “I’ll screw you up good and proper”. Other messages said he wasn’t going away.
Garda Skelly said Ms Dardis’s work and life in general had been greatly affected. She is still afraid to answer phone calls from unidentified numbers.
She agreed with Gerry Charlton BL, defending, that Nevin has not made contact with Ms Dardis since his arrest two years ago.
Mr Charlton handed a psychological report into court and said Nevin had been attending a counsellor. He said he has €1,000 in court to offer as a token of his remorse and is anxious to benefit from further counselling “to gain further insights” into his offending behaviour.
Judge Martin Nolan said there was “no doubt” that Nevin had stalked and harassed Ms Dardis which was very distressing for her.
He said it had been carried out with “malice and forethought” and had made Ms Dardis’s life miserable for that time.
“He doesn’t accept rejection easily and his instinct is to harass,” Judge Nolan said, adding that “it was not the reaction of a balanced personality but there is no doubt that he knew what he was doing was wrong”.
He revoked Nevin’s bail and remanded him in custody until June 11th when he will be sentenced.