Four years in jail for threats to ex-partners

A man who harassed two former partners and threatened to harm them if they did not hand over cash has been given a six-year sentence, with two years suspended.

Ian Waters, 35, of Springfield Heights, Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to harassing Orla Sheridan by mobile calls and texts on dates between August 19 and December 10, 2013.

The father of one also pleaded guilty to making demands with menace from Amy Tresson, the mother of his child, on dates between May and July 2014. He has no previous convictions.

Waters told gardaí in interview that he was under pressure to pay back debts and turned to Ms Sheridan for help. He accepted that he threatened her in text messages which were “deeply disturbed”, but claimed he never intended to harm her.

Waters agreed with officers that he had threatened to shoot Ms Tresson because she would not help him and accepted that she would “absolutely” be scared by what he had threatened.

Judge Patricia Ryan imposed consecutive sentences totalling six years and suspended two years. She ordered that Waters stay away from and not communicate with Ms Sheridan or her family for 20 years.

Garda Diarmuid O’Donovan told Lisa Dempsey, prosecuting, that,

on August 19, 2013, Ms Sheridan received a text requesting €10,000. When she replied that she could not get the cash, Waters replied:“You’re a dirty c**t. I will kill you, so I will... nothing but a heartless bastard,” before he threatened to slit her throat.

Ms Sheridan was worried and turned to friends to see if she could raise the money for Waters. She also reported the messages to gardaí.

Ms Sheridan paid out €10,000, which was never repaid. Waters was charged with harassment on December 11, 2013.

Ms Tresson had been in a relationship with Waters and they had a daughter. They broke up in 2007 but he continued to have visitation rights to their child.

In May 2014, he contacted Ms Tresson looking for €320 and threatened to kick her in the head if she did not get him the cash. She was terrified and got him the money, also

handing over a further €1,000 over a couple of days.

She later told gardaí Waters threatened to shoot her and said he would do time for her, which she took to mean that he would serve a prison sentence for murdering her. He threatened to kill her and destroy her life and said he knew what time her partner left for work.

Ms Tresson said she lived in constant fear and didn’t know what Waters was capable of doing. He was later arrested and brought in for questioning in July 2014.

Gda O’Donovan agreed with Caroline Biggs, defending, that Waters had a chaotic history involving debt through drug addiction which led him into contact with “unpleasant people”.