A 31-year-old man who made numerous unwanted visits to his ex-partner’s house in the early hours of the morning has been handed a suspended jail sentence.
Joseph Patrick O’Driscol left his ex-partner feeling scared and intimidated when he arrived at her Enniskillen house drunk while banging on the front door.
O’Driscol, who has an address at Princess Street in Lurgan, pleaded guilty to harassing the woman over a month-long period.
He was given a prison sentence of two months, suspended for two years, and a restraining order of two years also.
A prosecutor outlined the background of the case stating that on September 5, at 3.30am, the victim rang police saying her ex-partner was a her front door, but before police got there O’Driscol left the area.
Then at 4.55am that same morning, she rang police saying that he was at her house again and had been trying to open the door.
Officers carried out a search of the area and found the accused in a neighbour’s garden.
O’Driscol was arrested for harassment and was released on bail.
A number of days later his ex-partner contacted police saying he was at her back door again, however he left before police arrived.
Then on September 27, at around 8.55pm, O’Driscol was back at her house, banging on the door.
Around ten minutes before police arrived he left the area, however police found and arrested him on the Tempo Road.
The defendant did not deny being there, telling police he wanted to see the children.
The court heard that O’Driscol had been living with his ex-partner and wanted to drop off washing and had pre-arranged this with the victim.
On September 30, at around 3am, the injured party contacted police stating she was scared because he was drunk outside her house asking to be let in. However, police were unable to find him.
An hour later, police received another call from the victim saying he was back, but another police search failed to locate him.
She then received a number of unwanted missed calls that evening into the early hours of Tuesday morning which came from the bus dept and Tesco in Enniskillen.
Later that day, O’Driscol was found drunk at the bus depot and was taken to Enniskillen police station. He was arrested for being aggressive and abusive after refusing to leave his cell.
A defence barrister for O’Driscol explained that his client had previously served a six month custodial sentence after he breached a suspended prison sentence.
“After his release he lived at an address in Lurgan and before going in to custody he had an on and off relationship with his wife,” he added.
“She made contact with him and asked him to come and live in Enniskillen to see if they could make a go of it. He lived there for a week.
“He says, in essence, he feels he has been made a fool of but he has learned his lessons.
“However, there was no violence involved.”
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