A Sri Lankan chef jailed for three years for harassing a schoolteacher and her mother in Co Galway had his conviction overturned by the Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday.
As Mr Selliah Ramachandran had served one year, the court directed he be freed. The conviction was quashed on grounds of the conduct of the trial, the admissibility of certain evidence and the charge of the trial judge.
However, Mr Justice Barrington said the court considered that Ms Geraldine Fahy and her mother, Ms Maura Fahy, needed court protection from Mr Ramachandran, and ordered him not to contact them or come near them for 10 years.
The judge said Mr Ramachandran (44) of Blackrock, Co Dublin, was "his own worst enemy". His unsatisfactory trial was mostly his own fault. He had insisted on representing himself although offered free legal aid. He had difficulties with English and little understanding of the criminal law.
Mr Justice Barrington said this was the first prosecution under Section 10 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997. It was new legislation dealing with unlawful harassment or communication with a person against their will.
The judge said there had been a misunderstanding. In 1995 Mr Ramachandran had left papers for Ms Fahy in her hall and these were brought to the flat by her landlady. Ms Fahy assumed Mr Ramachandran had broken in and reported it to the gardai who went to his home.
Mr Ramachandran had sent letters to Ms Fahy asking why she sent the gardai to his home but also containing offensive material.
These and other matters were part of the defence Mr Ramachandran was trying to make and should have been put to the jury, the judge said.