'Monster' who threatened to pour acid on face of woman he met on dating app avoids jail
Jack Cleary, 25, of The Green, Beaumont Woods, Beaumont, Dublin 9, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to threatening to kill Leanne Maher on July 15, 2020. File picture: Collins Courts
A man who threatened to pour acid on the face of a woman he met over a dating app has been described as “a monster” by the victim.
Jack Cleary, 25, of The Green, Beaumont Woods, Beaumont, Dublin 9, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to threatening kill Leanne Maher on July 15, 2020. An additional charge of harassment was taken into account. He has no previous convictions.
The court heard, when evidence was given last year, that following the breakdown of the relationship, Cleary told Ms Maher during a phone call that he would throw acid on her face and that he would kill her. He was screaming down the phone at her.
He later appeared outside her home. Her children alerted her to his presence by screaming for her and she could see Cleary sitting outside in his car. She immediately called the gardaí but she later got another call from Cleary.
He told her the only reason her home “was not in rubble” was because he knew her daughter slept in the same room as her. He also said he would “flood your house”.
Judge Melanie Greally sentenced Cleary to four years in prison but suspended it for four years on condition that he engage with the Probation Service for 12 months and not have any contact, either directly or indirectly, with Ms Maher or come within 500m of her family home for those four years.
She noted Cleary had ongoing mental health difficulties and said he “had neglected his mental health needs during the currency of the offending”.
She said he had since re-engaged with the appropriate services and was considered to be stable and at a reduced risk of re-offending.
“I readily understand and realise that Ms Maher has been damaged and her family life has been damaged,” Judge Greally said before she added the offending took place over an extended period of time.
“It was serious and menacing and would cause any sane person to have real fears for their safety,” Judge Greally added.
She said Cleary was entitled to credit for his early guilty plea, his admissions to gardaí, his lack of previous convictions and the fact he has since addressed his mental health difficulties and has had no further contact with Ms Maher.
“An immediate custodial sentence is not necessary,” Judge Greally said.
She addressed Ms Maher in court and said she could report any contact by Cleary to the gardaí. She added she appreciated that Ms Maher would have hoped for a different outcome.
Ms Maher spoke out in court and said “there is no justice in it”.
“My children are not going to get over what he has done. He has traumatised my three children and he is standing there smiling when my children are afraid in their beds. He is a monster,” Ms Maher said.
“My children have to grow up traumatised because of his behaviour. There is not one bit of sorriness in him,” Ms Maher added, before she said Cleary’s supporters were smirking in court too and said she hoped they were proud of him.
Judge Melanie Greally had previously adjourned the case, having heard evidence because she said there were “very concerning aspects” of Cleary’s behaviour.
She accepted the “relationship had turned ugly, for the want of a better description but the reaction to the deterioration of that relationship went so far beyond what would be considered acceptable,” the judge added.
She had ordered a report from the Probation Services after she indicated to the woman that she wanted to ensure that something could be done to prevent him from behaving the same way to someone else.
Judge Greally acknowledged from a victim impact statement previously read in court by Ms Maher that Cleary’s behaviour severely impacted her and her children.
“It is clear that continues to be the case. She continues to be fearful and her children have been traumatised,” Judge Greally said.
Morgan Shelly BL, defending, handed in a psychological report which outlined that Cleary had certain mental health difficulties.
“My client said something that was utterly reprehensible and he should never have said it,” Mr Shelly said before he added that Cleary is “extremely remorseful for that”.
He handed in a number of testimonials and letters which he said outlined Cleary as someone who is kind and cares for others. He is now in a positive supportive relationship and a probation report before the court indicated he was at a low risk of re-offending, Mr Shelly said.
“It is clear that he did something terrible,” counsel submitted before he suggested Cleary’s actions were “totally out of character”.
Detective Garda Gary Moran told Sinéad McMullan BL, prosecuting, that Cleary and the woman met via a dating website in August 2019. A number of messages and phone calls were exchanged which later resulted in them establishing daily contact and they ultimately met in person in September 2019.
The following Christmas the woman wanted to end their contact and not have any further contact with Cleary and she met up with him shortly after Christmas to tell him that.
In June 2020, Cleary texted the woman to say he had presents for her children. He phoned her but she ignored him before he called around to her home, Det Gda Moran said, although he confirmed Cleary did not go into the house on that occasion.
Cleary told the woman he was struggling with his mental health and told her he was going to kill himself.
Det Gda Moran said the woman tried to let Cleary down easy and said she just didn’t want any communication with him. She blocked him on Snapchat the following month when he started calling her “filthy” and when WhatsApp messages also became abusive, she blocked him on that messaging service too.
The woman later spoke to Cleary on the phone, when he told her he would throw acid on her face and told her he would kill her. She said Cleary was screaming down the phone at her.
The woman then got talking to a friend on the phone when she heard her child screaming and spotted Cleary’s car outside her home. She could see him in the car and immediately called gardaí.
The woman later got another call from Cleary, who told her the only reason her home “was not in rubble” was because he knew her daughter slept in the same room as her. He also said he would “flood your house”.
The woman stayed at her friend’s home that night because she genuinely believed that Cleary would hurt her.
On July 22, 2020, the woman made a statement to gardaí. The following October she made a second complaint of harassment after she said she got a message from the accused in which he said: “Gardaí spoke to me today and told me you are still going ahead with it.” The woman said the messages were abusive and frightening.
The woman’s victim impact statement said Cleary’s behaviour caused a lot of stress and outlined him sitting outside her home and sending her a video message.
She said she had struggled with sleeping at night due to anxiety and she always felt she was being watched and her children were frightened in their own home and experienced nightmares to date.
The woman said on a couple of occasions she had to leave her home as she did not feel safe.
“I feared for me and my children. He knew too much about me, where I worked and lived,” the woman continued before she said she left her job because she feared for the safety of the staff there.
“In the 11 months that I knew him, his actions and behaviour towards me leaves me sick to my stomach,” the woman continued before she added she did not know why Cleary would threaten to hurt her when all she was trying to do was to help him.
She said she always feared he would come back and do what he said he would do. “All I can picture is what he said he would do to me,” before she said that his actions “ruined my mind and part of my life”.
Det Gda Moran agreed with Mr Shelly that his client caused no trouble with gardaí and admitted making the threats.
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