Man who harassed garda with false sex assault claims jailed for 18 months

Accused sent photographs of officer’s children focusing on their groin area with disturbing messages and emojis

 Derek O’Mahony of Meadowlands, Bloomfield, Midleton, County Cork, made false claims of sexual assault to the Garda Ombudsman, the Garda Commissioner, the Minister for Justice, and An Taoiseach.

An East Cork man who mounted a campaign of harassment against a member of An Garda Síochána made false claims of sexual assault to the Garda Ombudsman, the Garda Commissioner, the Minister for Justice and An Taoiseach and now he has been jailed for 18 months.

Judge Helen Boyle imposed a sentence of two years with the last six months suspended in the case of 29-year-old Derek O’Mahony of Meadowlands, Bloomfield, Midleton, County Cork.

Inspector Roisín O’Dea said it all began when the officer encountered the defendant back in October 2020 and carried out a routine drugs search.

“Derek O’Mahony then made a vexatious report that the member of An Garda Síochána sexually assaulted him during the drugs search,” Insp O’Dea testified at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

After that, there were constant phone calls to the garda's local garda station by O’Mahony labelling the officer as a sex offender and a corrupt policeman.

The injured party received a handwritten letter from Derek O’Mahony in March 2021 where he apologised for his actions since October 2020.

The Garda Ombudsman notified the injured party that the complaint by O’Mahony was no longer being investigated by them.

False allegations

But soon after this, the defendant began making phone calls to the garda station again, making the same vexatious, false allegations.

As recently as April 29 this year the officer woke to an Instagram notification and there followed 51 messages from Derek O’Mahony in 15 minutes.

“He accused him of sexually assaulting people and causing many young people to commit suicide.

“He received 13 more messages through Facebook messenger with a similar theme,” Insp O’Dea said.

The accused sent the officer photographs of his (the officer’s) children focusing on their groin area with disturbing messages and emojis, causing huge distress to the officer and his family.

O’Mahony then made direct Facebook contact with the officer’s wife and two of his sisters, again causing deep upset.

On investigation, it was established that the accused was living outside the jurisdiction and on August 8 this year he was arrested boarding a plane at Cork Airport.

When interviewed he was remorseful and made full admissions to sending the messages.

Victim impact statement

The injured party did make a victim impact statement but requested that it be read in private by the sentencing judge.

Judge Boyle said she did not believe she was breaking a confidence to say in the course of sentencing that the officer had been afraid during the harassment that he would lose his job and that the harassment caused particular distress for his wife and sisters. The judge added that the most serious aspect of the harassment came with the defendant’s decision to involve the officer’s children by sending photographs of them to the officer. He was also deeply distressed to be accused of causing people to commit suicide.

Niamh Stewart, defence barrister, put it to Inspector O’Dea that the accused sent a letter of apology to the victim at an early stage in the harassment. The inspector acknowledged this but added: “He then continued to re-do a barrage of harassment.” 

Apology

Ms Stewart called the accused to give evidence which consisted mainly of an apology to the officer.

Derek O’Mahony said: “I was not taking my medication at the time. I tried to commit suicide on two occasions. I just want to say I am sincerely sorry for the messages I sent. There is no excuse for it. I am sorry and disgusted. I don’t know what I was thinking, to be honest. I also want to apologise to his sisters and his wife. I sincerely apologise for the distress and hurt caused by the messages I sent to you and your family … I guarantee you will have no issues from me in the future.” 

As well as jailing the accused for 18 months, the judge ordered him to stay away from the injured party, not go within 100 metres of his home, and not to communicate with or about him at any time in the next ten years, at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.