Harassment case over two Facebook friend requests dismissed

A 47-year-old man who made two Facebook friend requests to a woman in her early 20s and spoke to her about not accepting them was prosecuted for harassing her, but the case was dismissed. This followed a defence submission that there was no evidence of a crime.

Judge Con O’Leary agreed to dismiss the case and said it was a long way from the classic harassment case, where there might be tens if not hundreds of attempts to communicate. The judge dismissed the charge against Declan McCarthy, of 39 Harbour Row, Cobh, Co Cork, at Cork District Court, that he harassed the young woman.