A Co Meath man, Wally Bowens (36), was jailed for three months yesterday at Chester Magistrates' Court on a charge of abducting a 14-year-old girl from Dublin to Chester.
Bowens, who claimed he took the girl away to protect her from an abusive father and brother, admitted removing her from the control of her parents.
He appeared close to tears throughout the hearing, and shook his head in disbelief towards his defence solicitor when the verdict was announced.
The court was told that the girl, who had been expelled from school last year, first met Bowens in September, when she started working as a waitress in a Dublin bar that he managed.
They were discovered together by gardai in the bar's private quarters following a tip-off from her parents, said prosecutor Ms Kate Hunt. After continued opposition from her family, they moved to Chester and ended up in a hostel for the homeless in the city.
Mr Erwin Bamforth, defending, told the court there was no question of any sexual impropriety. Bowens, who believed the girl was 15, was "hoodwinked" into forming a relationship.
He was looking after somebody whom he thought was vulnerable, and his life was now in tatters, it was claimed.
Jailing him, the stipendiary magistrate, Mr John Charles, said the offence of taking a girl out of the country was so serious it required an immediate custodial sentence.
The girl is now in care in Ireland, and Bowens feels he is unable to return to Dublin following the media coverage.
Ms Hunt said: "They struck up a relationship and started seeing each other as boy and girl. The police were involved in Ireland when the girl failed to come home. Her mother confronted the defendant, but she was told they were just good friends.
"When she packed up her clothes she [her mother] told her not to be so stupid. The girl had run away before. They went to Chester and the family received correspondence from the girl saying she was happy."
They stayed in bed-and-breakfast accommodation before moving to the hostel in Lorne Street, where they were eventually apprehended. The girl had presented documents relating to her 21-yearold sister so that she could obtain council accommodation.
The girl has refused to go back to her parents and has been un-cooperative throughout, Mr Bamforth said. Bowens formed the view that she was being abused. She attended work with substantial injuries. She was taken into care very briefly and then released back into the care of her parents. By her demeanour and her manner he was persuaded to bring her with him to Chester. There were no bad intentions, and they had separate beds throughout. He persuaded her to get in touch with her parents.