Man jailed for sending 'vile and vulgar' social media messages to autism campaigner

Harassment began with silent phone calls in middle of night before 'crossing the boundaries' beyond mere verbal abuse, says judge

Fiona Pettit O'Leary: Subjected to 'harassment by Eamonn Deegan. File picture: Denis Minihane

A man who subjected an autism campaigner to silent phone calls followed by "vile and vulgar" social media messages — including threatening to "experiment" on one of her children — has received a 10-month jail sentence.

Eamonn Deegan, aged 55, of 43 Springfield Court, Celbridge, Co Kildare, pleaded guilty to harassing West Cork-based Fiona Pettit O'Leary, putting her in fear.

At Clonakilty District Court yesterday, Judge James McNulty heard that when Deegan was arrested, he admitted it was his phone but replied "no comment" when asked if he was responsible for the messages.

In court he pleaded guilty, with his solicitor, Conrad Murphy, saying Deegan, a former "chronic" cannabis user, was homeless at the time of the offences and regretted what he had said.

The harassment took place between June 3 and June 7, 2019, Deegan beginning with silent phone calls in the middle of the night before then sending direct messages through the Messenger app.

Messages

In the messages — the first batch of which Ms O'Leary did not respond to — he called her "fucking vile" and said "you are a big bag of suicide waiting to happen".

He said Ms O'Leary was "fucked up" and referring to one of her sons, who is also autistic, said: "Would you not focus on that fuck up you raised?". 

In another message he said: "You are not autistic. Bitch, I'm talking to you." 

In another he said: "There is no such thing as autism, you are just a bad mother." 

Again referring to Ms O'Leary's son he said: "I am willing to experiment on him." 

In another he said: "I want to experiment on your child, I am a Mensa level polymath."

As the message exchange continued, Ms O'Leary responded, calling him "a coward" and finishing by calling him "a creep".

Mr Murphy said his client never had the means nor the intention to travel to West Cork and  Deegan apologised in court, acknowledging that he had never met Ms O'Leary in person and that he began verbally abusing her after she had written something about what he called "a Christian group" to which he was affiliated. 

"I am very sorry for upsetting that person," he said. "The basis of this whole thing is politics and I wanted to hurt her feelings to get back."

Judge McNulty said what occurred had "crossed the boundaries" and was far beyond mere verbal abuse. He said it was harassment of a mother of five, with four children who have autism, and that it was a "grave offence".

He noted Deegan's previous convictions, which include five for misuse of drugs, one for the sale and supply of drugs, and six for possession of knives.

"His fondness for knives and his history of drug use would give the injured party genuine cause for concern," he said.

Allowing credit for the guilty plea and the expression of remorse, the judge sentenced Deegan to 10 months in prison.

Appeal against the severity of the sentence was lodged on Deegan's own bond of €5,000, no cash required, and with strict conditions that include having no direct or indirect communication with Ms O'Leary or her family, no online abusive messaging, or contact with any other person or group, and that he stay out of Co Cork  bar court appearances.