Embittered man made couple’s life nightmare

Jason Naughton (42), of 41 Cluain Rí, Athenry, and formerly of Whitestrand Road, Salthill, pleaded guilty to harassing the man at his home on the Headford Road, Galway, between June 27, 2012 and May 16, 2013, when he first appeared before Galway Circuit Criminal Court last November.

He also pleaded guilty to removing the windscreen wipers from a car belonging to the man between September 23 and 24, 2012 and to removing wipers from a car belonging to the man’s wife again between December 10 and 12, 2013.

Sentence was adjourned to last Friday for the preparation of a psychiatric report and a probation report on the accused.

Garda Pat Fahy told the sentence hearing that Naughton had been employed by a company in Galway from December 2005 to October 2008 where the victim also worked.

Naughton was later employed with another company from June 2010 to January 2012 in the same building as the other man and his former employers.

The harassment started in June 2012 and went on for fourteen months until August 2013.

Garda Fahy said that during that time the victim’s car and another car owned by his wife, were damaged on a number of occasions while parked outside their home.  The wipers had been pulled off both cars while contaminants had been put into the diesel tank of the man’s car on two occasions.

The man, he said, also received three different emails which contained deeply distressing and offensive messages, while the couple’s home was sprayed-painted red with graffiti while they were away one Christmas.

A menacing comment was also posted under photographs uploaded by the man on his Facebook page following the birth of his son.

Garda Fahy said Naughton sent another email to the man’s employers claiming he had been bullied by him and two others when he was employed by that company.

He also sent the same email to the man with the comment, “See you in Hell”.

On a few occasions the couple heard a car beeping loudly outside their home and knew it was the accused.

Naughton was arrested on August 24, 2013 and made full admissions in relation to all of the incidents.

He told Gardai he targeted the man and his wife because he knew where they lived.

Garda Fahy said the couple were deeply traumatised by what had happened to them and could not understand why the accused had picked on them.

Garda Fahy said Naughton was unemployed since January 2012.  He said that while he had no previous convictions, he had come to the attention of the Gardai before this.

Defence barrister, Conal McCarthy said his client wanted to publicly apologise to the couple for his actions.

He said his client had “fessed up” to everything.

Mr McCarthy said Naughton had felt he had a grievance and the couple became the focus of that grievance.

Garda Fahy said the couple did not accept this at all.

Mr McCarthy said a total of €1,900 damage was done to the couple’s property and his client had paid that amount over.

He said Naughton’s offending behaviour was done against a backdrop of excessive drinking.

Mr McCarthy explained his client was socially awkward and suffers from acute anxiety, according to medical reports handed into court.

He said his client was no longer working, was in receipt of Job Seeker’s Allowance and the AIB was about to repossess his house in Athenry.

The man, who had been the main target of the harassment read his own victim impact statement to the court.

In it, he stated he and his wife were at a complete loss for a long time to know who was targeting their home and property.  They thought it was random and blamed youths in the locality.  They became very distraught when they came back to their home after spending Christmas with their families to find it had been covered in red paint.

“Gardai left us in no doubt then that somebody was targeting us and there was nothing random about it,” he said.

“We couldn’t fathom who would do this to us.  My wife was eight months pregnant at the time.  We felt vulnerable and lived in constant fear,”  he said.

The couple moved out of their home and are now very security conscious and very distrustful of people in their new home, the man added.

Handing probation and psychiatric reports into court, Mr McCarthy said his client had unresolved mental health issues that he was now dealing with.

Judge Rory McCabe said he was sorry for the difficulties Naughton was experiencing, but his sorrow for him paled into insignificance when he heard of the manner in which he had treated the unfortunate couple for over a year.

He then sentenced Naughton to three years in prison for the harassment charge, which he suspended for five years on condition he be of good behaviour during that time and have no contact by any means with the couple and not publish anything further about them.

Judge McCabe took the remaining criminal damage charges into account, noting that two doctors were engaged in assessing Naughton and had put forward proposals concerning his treatment.