A 21-year-old man banned from accessing the internet as part of his bail conditions tried to befriend a police officer’s wife on Facebook in a ‘bizarre’ attempt to apologise to him.
Gareth Dunne of Otterbank Road had previously been charged with a number of drug-related offences including being concerned in the supply of drugs. He breached his bail on Friday, May 18.
The court heard that a police officer who had been investigating Dunne’s case was at home with his wife when she noticed at 10pm that she had been sent a friend request in Facebook from someone she did not know.
When she showed the request to her husband, he recognised it was Dunne as he had previous dealings with him and had been involved in the search of his home and his arrest.
Part of Dunne’s bail conditions were not to possess any electronic device through which he could access the internet and not to attempt to access the internet.
When he was arrested for the breach of bail he made no reply and accepted he had breached his bail conditions.
A police officer in court said that it was ‘extremely strange and concerning, to put it lightly’. He said that an ‘intrinsic part of his offending involved mobile phones’ and that he had been ‘reluctant’ to give police access to those phones.
Stephen Chapman, defence counsel, said that Dunne had not used any device in relation to supplying drugs and there had been no phones found at his home.
Mr Chapman agreed that it was ‘very strange’ to contact the police officer’s wife but that he had done this from ‘a computer in a public library’.
He said that Dunne’s reason for doing this was that he ‘wanted to get word to the officer that he was sorry for causing him so much trouble over the case generally’.
Mr Chapman said that Dunne had a medical history of exhibiting strange and unusual behaviour since he was younger and that there were medical records that referred to this.
He said that Dunne had little opportunity to access the internet as he worked on his father’s farm from early in the morning to late in the evening.
Mr Chapman said that, although it was ‘concerning that he had made contact, however slight, with the officer’ but that ‘he didn’t seek to deal drugs or interfere with the investigation’.
District Judge Barney McElholm said: “It’s a strange way of going about things, he could’ve just called into the police station and asked to speak to the officer.”
Mr Chapman agreed but referred again to Dunne’s medical condition that makes him predisposed to making irrational choices.
Judge McElholm said: “Well, it was bizarre behaviour but he made no attempt to disguise his identity. I really don’t know what he thought he was going to achieve by this.”
He said that Dunne had been expressly forbidden to have contact to the internet or possess a device that would allow him to as part of his bail conditions ‘yet he goes and uses one to contact the wife of a serving police officer’.
He added: “It doesn’t seem like the actions of a master criminal but because the behaviour is so erratic, it could happen again.
“If he breaches his bail again, he’s going to paint me into a corner and I’ll have no option but to revoke his bail but on this occasion, I’ll not revoke it.”
Dunne was readmitted to bail and warned not to access the internet. The matter will be back before the court again on July 26.
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