Offaly woman faces lengthy jail sentence if she fails to comply with court order

A woman was warned that if she doesn't comply with a district court order to have no contact with an injured party in the case, then she could face a lengthy prison sentence.

Emma Sherwood (39) of McGregol Park, Birr, was charged with harassing a man on dates in December 2022. She first appeared on the charges in the district court last February when she had been told by the judge that if there were no more incidents of harassment he would strike out the case against her.

In his evidence to last Wednesday's court, Sergeant Brendan Kearns said there had been three alleged incidents since then.

In the witness stand, the injured party, who cannot be named by order of the judge, told the court that Ms Sherwood had been sitting in her car in the driveway of her home. When he drove up she got out of her car at the same time. When he went into his house she stood staring at the house over the fence. This happened on two occasions.

On another date Ms Sherwood stood behind the injured party in a bar while he was playing darts.

The court was shown CCTV footage of Ms Sherwood standing watching the darts behind the injured party. She seems to have a ''keen interest in darts'' remarked Judge Cody, adding that it was ''quite intimidating''.

Solicitor Aisling Maloney, who was representing Ms Sherwood, said the conditions of bail were that her client would not talk to the injured party and she hadn't spoken to him. She was also not to engage with the injured party on social media which she had complied with. Furthermore she was to refrain from driving in a certain area and she had also complied with this.

She said that Ms Sherwood had erected trellis on the top of the wall between the two houses to create a boundary. She had also planted some hedging. She said Ms Sherwood has two children, both autistic.

In the witness stand, Emma Sherwood said she had a lot of family difficulties. She said her daughter can have a ''meltdown'' in the car and refuse to get out. Her mother has mobility issues and often it can take some time for her to get out of the car as she has a rollator.

She said she didn't recall the date when she and the injured party had both exited their cars at the same time and she said she didn't believe she stared through the fence at the injured party's house. On the night of the darts tournament, Ms Sherwood said she hadn't realised she was standing so close to those playing darts. She said she doesn't go out very often and she had been sitting in a different part of the pub that night.

She said she tried to live her life as respectfully as she can and never had any dealings with the law. She said the thoughts of having a conviction against her name was very distressing.

Judge Andrew Cody said he had given her an opportunity. He said considering her continued behaviour, the court was making an order under section 10-4 non fatal offences act as amended, prohibiting Ms Sherwood from doing any of the following for a period of five years.

Sitting in her car while parked in Birr County Offaly for longer than 30 seconds, not to be at the injured party's place of work, not to contact his place of work or any fellow employee of the injured party. Not to be within 400 metres of the school where the injured party's son attends during the day, not to communicate with the injured party or be within 100 metres of him while he is out socialising, in the event of her being within 100 metres of the injured party then she must leave that location and travel at least 400 metres of that location no matter what the circumstances, She is not to engage in following, watching, monitoring tracking or spying on the injured party, making any friends or following any social media accounts of the injured party or disclosing any private information. If she breaches any of these she is liable to be fined, €5,000 or receive 10 years in prison or both.

Garda Stacey O'Brien served Ms Sherwood with the court order.