Man posted intimate photos on ex's account but 'didn't want to harm her' court hears

Tom Tuite

A man who logged into his ex-girlfriend’s social media account and posted intimate images of her told gardaí, “I didn’t want to harm her,” a court has heard.

The South American man in his 20s, who is not being named, to protect the victim’s right to anonymity, pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court to an offence under section 2.1 of the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020 for distributing the pictures without her consent.

Judge Treasa Kelly adjourned sentencing until January for a restorative justice report on the accused to be prepared.

She told the man, who listened to the proceedings with the help of a translator, that this was a significant breach of trust and she was sure it caused hurt and distress to the injured party.

The court heard that at 3 am from an unknown location on a date last year, the accused used his phone to log into the woman’s email account without her knowledge.

From there, he accessed her Instagram without her consent.

He already had her password, allowing him to share the intimate images.

When arrested made a full admission and replied, “I didn’t want to harm her”, in reply to the charge after caution. The accused had no previous convictions.

Defence solicitor Stephen O’Mahony said that the injured party had been in a long-term relationship with her and there had been no issue with him having her login details.

It was accepted that he did not get into account surreptitiously, was cooperative with the Garda investigation, and did not want to make matters worse by lying.

The defence stressed that the accused had entered a guilty plea as early as possible.

In a mitigation plea, the court heard the man had been in a relationship with the injured party for several years and had access to each other’s social media.

Mr O’Mahony said they did not have many other friends in the city and were very close and dependent on each other. However, the relationship broke up, and the accused went into a “deep depression” and decided to carry out the breach of trust in an out-of-character moment.

His ex-girlfriend was not required to attend the hearing and opted not to provide a victim impact statement.

The court heard that the accused, who is in full-time employment, was ashamed and sorry, and had expressed that to gardaí.

Mr O’Mahony said his client, who did not address the court, can only apologise, and the solicitor indicated his remorse to the court for this “gross breach of trust”.

He has not contacted her since the incident, over a year ago, and he wishes to put this matter behind him, the court heard.

The judge emphasised that it was a serious crime but noted that the defence indicated he had insight into his offending.

While ordering a probation report, she said she wanted to know if he fully appreciated the breach of trust and the hurt he caused by his actions.