Former politician avoids jail for terrorising family

A former politician has avoided jail after pleading guilty to a reign of terror against his former partner and their children.

Former Donegal county councillor Gareth Reid appeared before Letterkenny District Court yesterday.

Reid, 32, breached a barring order against his former partner on 14 occasions and caused criminal damage on another. Fourteen of those charges were committed while Reid was on court bail.

Reid, of 91 Lawnsdale, Ballybofey, appeared in court after undergoing a probation report in relation to the charges which took place between April 1 and November 29, 2013.

A previous hearing was told Reid had telephoned his ex-partner on 30 occasions over one weekend despite a barring order against him.

Upon reading the probation report, Judge Paul Kelly said it appeared Reid had engaged with counselling and probation services, who said it was unlikely he would re-offend.

However the judge added: “Some of these cases were of an extremely terrifying nature. His partner gave evidence about the effect it had on her and her children.”

Judge Kelly warned Reid that if he got into further trouble he would find himself behind bars.

On three sample charges of breaching a barring order, Judge Kelly jailed Reid for six months, but suspended the sentence for a year.