Man who threatened to post intimate images of his ex on Facebook is jailed
The Judge described it as a 'serious matter' and said 'people are entitled to their privacy, it's as simple as that'
A man who threatened to post intimate images of his former partner on Facebook and send them to her mother has been jailed.
The 45-year-old, who can't be named to protect the anonymity of his victim, pleaded guilty to threatening to publish or distribute an intimate image with intent to cause harm on a date in December 2021. The maximum sentence for this charge is seven years.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that the man and the woman were in a brief relationship, which she ended in November 2021.
The victim, who was aged in her 20s, knew the man had a number of intimate images and videos of her in his possession.
A few weeks after the break up, on December 8, 2021, the man sent the woman a series of voice recordings on Snapchat in which he threatened to send the material to people she knew including her mother and social worker, as well as post it on Facebook.
An investigating garda told prosecuting counsel that the woman went immediately to a garda station to make a complaint. Gardaí located the man a short time later in a Dublin pub.
When interviewed by gardaí, the man said he was annoyed and had been drinking. He also apologised for his actions.
A victim impact statement was handed to the court, but not read aloud.
After hearing the facts of the case, Judge Martin Nolan described it as a “serious matter”. “People are entitled to their privacy, it's as simple as that,” he said.
He handed the man a prison sentence of 20 months, with the final 10 months suspended to incentivise his rehabilitation.
The man has 10 previous convictions including public order, road traffic offences and criminal damage. He was also homeless for a number of years.
The garda agreed with Gerardine Small SC, prosecuting, that the relationship between the parties was quite brief and the guilty plea was of value to the prosecution.
A number of documents were handed to the court. The man has a good work history, but his alcohol and drugs addiction issues “got the better of him”, counsel told the court.