Limerick man appeals 'unduly severe' prison sentence for harassing woman

A LIMERICK man has appealed his four-year prison sentence for harassing a woman he later discovered he had confused with someone else, arguing it was was 'unduly severe' when compared to similar sentences for sexual assault.

Eoin Hannan, aged 50, of Abbeyvale, Corbally was convicted in April 2022 of the harassment of Ciara Hassett at various locations in the State on dates between February 14 and August 25, 2020.

Hannan, who has 44 previous convictions including for assault, criminal damage and making a threat to kill, had denied the charge and the conviction followed a trial before a jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Three months later, Hannan pleaded guilty to a separate charge of harassing Ms Hassett's father on dates between January 20 and February 13, 2021.

The court heard that Hannan repeatedly contacted the victim despite the fact that, in 2017, gardai had warned him that the woman did not welcome his behaviour.

He was warned again in February 2019 but on Valentines Day 2020 he sent a Valentines card to the woman to her family home where her father lives. The woman was upset because she was worried Hannan would visit the house.

Detective Garda Sarah Barry told the court that over the next eight months Hannan sent wine and chocolates to the victim’s workplace in the capital. He sent her a watch in June 2020 and later sent her a bracelet.

In August, he sent a letter to the family home with a teddy bear and a lollipop. The letter referred to the victim's father and included the phrase “one could kill anything except time”, which caused her concern.

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At the Court of Appeal this Tuesday, Hannan, who represented himself, argued that the sentence had been unduly severe. He alleged there had been inaccuracies in an expert report at the time and he submitted that no account was taken of the fact that he has bipolar affective disorder.

He said he wrote to the victim in February 2019 to say he would not be writing again and, after receiving a garda warning, he then left the country. “I contend that after that it was a civil matter and the gardai had no right to get involved,” he said.

Hannan went on to reference recent sexual assault cases in which the sentence imposed was similar or less than his own.

“I’m saying like for like they got lesser sentences than I did,” he said, adding he found it hard to reconcile the sentences in these cases with the jail term he received for “mistakenly sending a series of romantic style letters to the wrong girl”.

“I would like to live in a society where such a mistake would be acknowledged without the involvement of the gardaí,” he added.

Hannan told the court he suffered a psychotic episode last September after he stopped taking his medication and was treated at the Central Mental Hospital for six months. He said he was stabilised on medication and was transferred back to Mountjoy last March.

He said he is now resigned to being on medication for the rest of his life and said this has made a big difference to his overall wellbeing.

“I’m deeply ashamed of the crime I have been convicted of and have been punished severely,” he told the court.

Hannan said his conviction was for a non-violent offence which was “romantic rather than sinister” and “based on a case of mistaken identity”.

“Again I’d say I don’t believe the gardaí should have been involved in the early stages because it was not a criminal matter to send a letter to a girl,” he said. “For the reasons outlined I would beg you to commute or suspend the rest of my sentence.”

Eoin Lawlor BL, for the State, suggested to the court that the jail terms imposed were balanced sentences that gave “a great deal of consideration” to the effect the offences had on the victim and to Hannan’s circumstances.

He said the maximum sentence in this case was one of seven years. The offending was persistent and while it wasn’t violent there were “elements that were sinister”, he said, and that was something which was of great concern to the court.

The barrister said it was quite clear from Hannon’s presentation in court today that “there isn’t any real remorse at play”.

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In relation to any alleged inaccuracies in a report at the time, he said whatever was stated in the report was what Hannon had told its author. He said in any event, any supposed inaccuracies in detail were “mere petals in a meadow of difficulties” in relation to issues identified surrounding Hannan’s mental health and would not have affected the judge’s overall decision.

In relation to the comparative cases quoted by Hannan, he said there was a difficulty in comparing “apples and oranges”. He said these were “very different cases”.

The court said it would reserve judgement in the matter.

The sentencing hearing was told that at the trial, it was confirmed that Hannan, who had never met Ms Hassett, had a mistaken impression of who she was and had got her confused with someone else. 

In her victim impact statement, the woman said she had hoped that by ignoring the unsolicited and unwanted contact, it would stop. She said the situation was unnerving and exhausting and when she heard of his mental health issues and criminal behaviour, her fears were heightened.

Hannan has 44 previous convictions, including those for assault, criminal damage and making a threat to kill.