Cork stalking victim: 'I considered getting my name tattooed to help identify my dead body'
Una Ring at Cork Circuit Criminal Court today: "I even considered getting a tattoo with my name, town name and date of birth so that if he abducted and killed me that my body would be easily and quickly identified." Photo: Daragh Mc Sweeney
A Youghal woman said that seeing the man who threatened to rape her going to jail was not the "win" – she said that happened when gardaí arrested him outside her home before he could carry out his threat.
Una Ring was talking after 52-year-old James Steele – a man she had no relationship with but who became obsessed with her – was jailed for five years and ordered to stay away from her and her family forever.
“I would like to thank the men and women of Youghal Garda Station for their support and hard work in bringing this case to its conclusion. Each and every member of the gardaí that I met was kind and professional and I owe them a huge debt of gratitude.
“The win for me is not today although we are delighted with the outcome.
“This was done through a garda operation and the dedication of local gardaí in helping keep me and my family safe.
“I would strongly urge anyone who is being harassed to contact your local gardaí for advice and have any incident reported should your situation escalate at any stage.
“I would ask that the family of James Steele be given the same support that I have been given. My thoughts are with them during this extremely difficult time."
Recalling the harassment and rape threats, Una Ring said: “I was extremely fearful. I was in fear of my life. It was harrowing.
"Having said that, I would be of a different mind-set if he had gotten into the house.
“I’m unlucky that it happened but I am extremely lucky that the guards were so dedicated – they sat outside my house from midnight to 5am night after night after night, just waiting for him but we knew he was going to show up, it was just a matter of time.
“I will get over it. I have a very good psychotherapist that I’m seeing every week. What am I looking forward to most? Just a sense of freedom, being able to go for a walk without looking over my shoulder because now that the sentence is out, I can carry on with life.
“Obviously I would have preferred a higher sentence – there is nothing that is high enough for what I went through but I am happy with it. I knew he wasn’t going to get the full 14, I knew it wasn’t going to be what I wanted but the judge was very fair and he was very fair in everything he said – I’m happy enough.
Asked if she would ever forgive him she said, “No. I will get through it but I won’t ever forgive him. Nobody deserves this.
“What is most disturbing to me about this situation is the complete lack of relationship between me and James Steele. This was not an angry ex-husband or a jilted ex-boyfriend; we were not even friends. He was just a man that I worked with.
"It makes no sense to me and I will never understand why he victimised me and wanted to inflict so much pain on myself and my two children, who he had never even met.
“It’s a long drive from Rosscarbery to Youghal with plenty of time to think about what he was doing but he continued to carry out a sustained and systematic attack on my family’s privacy and sense of security with no regard for the fear that he was causing or the detrimental effect that his actions were having on our mental health.
“During the stalking, she (Una Ring’s adult daughter) wanted me to sell the house so that we could move, she wanted to sleep with a knife under her pillow… and we would have access to the roof of the bay window should he break in.
“Being stalked is the most psychologically terrifying situation to be in. It’s like a trap-door has been opened up beneath you and you are freefalling, waiting after each incident for the next even worse one to happen and knowing that at some point something horrific will happen.
“I was so certain that James Steele was going to break in and attack me that I used to tidy up the house each night before going to bed so that the house would be presentable for the crime scene photos. I even considered getting a tattoo with my name, town name and date of birth so that if he abducted and killed me that my body would be easily and quickly identified. That’s how utterly terrified I was. I still am.
“James Steele did not diminish my faith in other people. The majority of people are so kind. I would not have made it through the last year without gardaí, neighbours, friends, work colleagues and most importantly, my family. What he has done however is to destroy my faith in myself. I now second-guess every conversation, dissecting every interaction I have in my head to ensure nothing I said can be misinterpreted or misconstrued.
“I have been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I am on four different types of medication just to help me get through the day.
“We are still afraid of James Steele and are absolutely terrified of what he might do when he is released from prison. It is said that the road to recovery after an ordeal like this starts with the ability to forgive. There will be no forgiveness here. I will never forgive him for what he has put me and my family through.”
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