A taxi-driver made more than a thousand "sexual" telephone calls to a young Dublin woman, the Circuit Court was told yesterday. Gerard Doyle (33), of Rush brook Drive, Templeogue, Dublin, who was jailed in the District Court for nine months for making "nuisance and abusive" telephone calls, yesterday challenged his conviction and sentence.
Ms Christine McKenna, of Tymon North Road, Tallaght, told Judge Dominic Lynch that over a 2 1/2-year period she had received thousands of phone calls, sometimes 10 a day.
She said that when gardai set up a phone link with Doyle's home she recognised his voice, when he answered, as that of the man who had been ringing her.
Ms McKenna said Doyle would refer to her as Christina and ask her about her underwear and make indecent proposals.
She said he told her several times he was masturbating. Sometimes he would ask if she had enjoyed the Submarine Bar the previous night and describe to her how she looked and what she had been wearing.
Replying to Ms Helena Kiely, State Solicitor, Ms McKenna said that a garda had come to her home and dialled Doyle's home phone number.
He had handed her the receiver and when the phone was answered she had said: "Can I speak to Gerard?" She said that as soon as he answered by saying "Speaking" she recognised his voice. Cross-examined by Mr Michael Hanahoe, solicitor for Doyle, she said she had spoken only a few words on the phone.
Det Sgt Tony Tighe, of Tallaght Garda station, said Ms McKenna had complained in April 1996 about the phone calls. He had obtained her permission to have her phone monitored.
Telecom Eireann records showed that on May 10th, 1996, one of the dates on which abusive calls had been made, four calls had been made from Doyle's home phone to Ms McKenna's phone in a period of 14 minutes.
The case continues.