Cork teen who made death threats to girl sent victim more texts while in front of gardaí
The accused man pleaded guilty to harassment of the teenager when she was 17 and he was approximately a year older.
A teenager whose harassment and death threats to another teenager were so persistent that during one of the numerous occasions when gardaí were at his home warning him to refrain from all contact he was actually sending more texts to her.
On Monday, at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, Rory Lally of Wainsfort, Rochestown, Cork, who is now almost 20 years old, was sentenced by Judge Sinead Behan to a total of 15 months in prison backdated to March when he went into custody.
The accused man pleaded guilty to harassment of the teenager when she was 17 and he was approximately a year older.
Judge Behan asked for clarification at one point in the evidence from Detective Garda Pat Connery at Cork Circuit Criminal Court and he confirmed that Rory Lally was actually continuing with his harassment and sending texts as gardaí were physically present in his home warning him to desist.
Det Garda Connery said the injured party started communicating with Rory Lally on social media in April 2023 and in June 2023 they met at a concert in Cork. However, she felt uncomfortable with him at the concert and soon afterwards told him by phone to stop calling her. She went on to block him on social media.
He ignored this and continued to contact her causing her such concern that she contacted gardaí in July 2023 and they told him to desist. The messaging continued. She complained to gardaí again in October and they approached him once more and told him to stop contacting her.
To get around being blocked by her on social media he was setting up new accounts and using other contact numbers.
By November, Rory Lally was telling her he did not care if she contacted gardaí and that he would do life in prison. She contacted gardaí again in December and he sent voice messages threatening to kill her.
Det Garda Connery went to the young man’s home: “I told him I was investigating the complaint against him. While I was in the house he sent further threatening messages to her.
“He said he was obsessed with the injured party. He admitted sending her messages. He said he would not physically harm her. He had to be brought before a special sitting of Cork District Court on Christmas Eve.”
His computers were confiscated but they were returned in January this year so that he could study for his Leaving Cert, on condition that he would not use them to make any further contact with her. He breached this condition by February.
He was arrested and in March he was refused bail and has been in custody since then.
Defence barrister Elaine Audley said the man was still only 19, comes from a good family, and never came to garda attention previously. She said that he had difficulties with communication early in his life but that it was not until secondary school that he became somewhat socially isolated and this was exacerbated at the age of 15/16 at the height of the covid pandemic.
Ms Audley said he had poor insight into how his behaviour would affect others and poor reading of social cues. The barrister said that the defendant accepted that the messages were nasty and inappropriate and that he needed to work through counselling on appreciating the effect of his behaviour on others.
She said the young man had lost out on doing his Leaving Cert. Sitting exams was to have been facilitated through prison, but Ms Audley said that it had not been possible for him to do so in the end.
Judge Behan noted from a victim impact report the devastating effect this had on the young woman who was harassed and the fact that she had to have counselling because the experience was so disturbing.
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