Farm worker ‘became obsessed’ with woman

A 22-year old farm worker who stalked a married woman living nearby “had become obsessed with the older woman”.

That is according to Stephen Coughlan, prosecuting, who told Ennis Circuit Court yesterday that even while spending time in jail, Conor Haugh continued to try to contact the 43-year-old mother of four.

At Ennis Circuit Court yesterday, Haugh, of Kilballyowen Cross on the Loop Head peninsula in west Clare, pleaded guilty to harassing the woman between February last year and January 5 this year.

Garda Adrian Cosgrove said a Garda investigation discovered that Haugh was sending texts to other women in the area and one as far away as Kerry.

The garda said Haugh and his victim lived a mile apart on the peninsula and she didn’t know of him.

Garda Cosgrove said Haugh appeared to be a young man in turmoil, and that the victim didn’t wish to see him treated harshly by the court.

Judge Gerard Keys freed Haugh on bail to undergo a number of reports with the Probation Service. He heard that Haugh would be residing in Tipperary and remanded him on bail to October 5.