Ten years for stalking 'doesn't go far enough', says woman who was terrorised in her own home
Una Ring: “Ten years would be enough if they served the full sentence but as you know they don’t." Picture: Larry Cummins
A woman whose work colleague staged an attempted robbery at her home with the aim of raping her has warned that a new maximum 10-year offence for stalking doesn't go far enough.
Cork woman Una Ring was subjected to a six-month campaign of harassment, which included threats of rape.
In February of last year, Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard that salesperson James Steele (52) of Reavilleen, Roscarberry, Co. Cork, became fixated on Ms Ring painting her car tyres pink, daubing her windows and cill with messages and sending letters threatening the rape of her and her daughter.
The harassment culminated in an incident on July 27, 2020, when gardaí mounting a surveillance operation intercepted Mr Steele in a housing estate in Youghal. He was in disguise and armed with a crow bar and duct tape as he attempted to break in to the home of Ms Ring.
Mr Steele, who was later jailed for five years, was in disguise wearing a hat, a snood and blue plastic gloves on his hands. Gardaí found the 2ft crowbar on his person in addition to an orange rope and a roll of duct tape.
Una says that whilst she supports a decision by Cabinet to make stalking a criminal offence the maximum sentence of 10 years isn't a sufficient period of time for such a serious crime.
“Ten years would be enough if they served the full sentence but as you know they don’t. James Steele was actually sentenced to nine years and there was two years taken off because of his guilty plea which brought it down to seven. Then there was two years suspended which brought it down to five.
"But he is going to be out in April 2024 so he actually served three. I am dreading it already and it is a year-and-a-half away.
Una decided to waive her right to anonymity in the case in order to make some change in Ireland. When she was being stalked there wasn't even a website she could access for information on the subject.
"There was nothing in Ireland on how to report it and sure stalking wasn’t a crime at that time."
Una says that gardaí to whom she reported a series of troubling incidents "wore a path to her door' after she first contacted them telling them that the wheels of her car had been spray-painted.
"They looked after me extremely well. I can’t praise them enough. Even the night he was arrested that was their fourth night (on surveillance). They were there from twelve o' clock until five in the morning. They put a lot of resources into it. They put everything into it to ensure the evidence was airtight."
One of the most chilling aspects of the court case was the CCTV footage which showed Steele lurking around her home as he prepared to break in. Una says they were fortunate to have installed the security cameras.
"I was haunted that I had it (the CCTV). I don't know how many times he was creeping around the house that he wasn’t caught because I had only gotten in the CCTV after a (harassing) letter was left."
Una admits that July is always a tough month for her because it coincides with the period when Steele was at his most ominous. She is also worried about him being released from custody.
"July was a tough month for me because it was the month that year that it all happened. I don’t think the summer will ever be the same again for me. It is also starting to hang over me now him coming out. So I am thinking what I can to increase security? He might leave me alone but he mightn’t.
"I had genuine fear that he would get me. You just don’t know. The fact that he came with what he came with and had (done an internet search) for chloroform. He was going to do me harm."
Meanwhile, Una has compassion for the family of Mr Steele whom she says have also suffered arising out of his actions.
"My heart goes out to them. He got up and went to work one day and never came back."
Una is grateful for the positive feedback she and others have received from Justice Minister Helen McEntee whom she says is "very personable" and listened carefully to all she had to say.
Under new regulations victims will be able to obtain a civil restraining order against their stalker without the need for a criminal prosecution. Stalking and non-fatal strangulations are almost set to become standalone offences.
The Criminal Justice Bill is expected to be brought before the Oireachtas and is expected to be law in the autumn. The new stalking offence covers any conduct that either puts the victim in fear of violence or cause the victim serious harm and distress.
The maximum penalty for this offence will be 10 years.
However, whilst strongly welcoming the new legislation on stalking Una will have to live with what Steele did for the rest of her life. She knows that her worry will increase when Steele is released.
"When you are in the house you are afraid he is outside. When you are outside you are afraid he is hiding in the bush. When you are in the car you think he is going to follow you. It is constant. It is exhausting. I am starting to worry again about his release date."
She advises that it is vital that persons impacted by stalking raise the alarm immediately. Una also stresses that she hugely appreciates the support of friends, family and co-workers during this traumatic time in her life.
"The one thing I was hammering home was to trust your gut. If you feel something is wrong start taking notes and tell somebody. Don’t say ‘it is harmless.’ It may not be.
"I would say to start documenting. Seeing somebody in a regular basis where they shouldn’t be. Okay you are going to run into somebody in a shop but you shouldn’t be running into them all the time.
"Only for my family I would have lost my house. I had to pay for counselling. He cost me about €25,000 through medication, counselling, security and loss of earnings. I am still trying to pay back family. I will be years recovering from it. But these changes in legislation mean it wasn't for nothing.
Meanwhile, the court last year heard that Mr Steele knew of Ms Ring from work but that they had no friendship or relationship of any sort.
In February 2020, he told her he was changing jobs and asked her to assist him with filing and IT in his new office in Cork.
On February 14, 2020, as she attempted to help him with such a move he made amorous approaches which she rejected. From that date until April 1 the father-of-two sent her 20 text messages. Some of the messages contained apologies. He also offered her a job at his new workplace although he had no authority to hire.
She ignored the majority of his messages only answering ones that were work-related. He then messaged saying he was going to call to her home. She became fearful and told him to stop contacting her. Contact ceased but Ms Ring remained uneasy and on June 12, 2020, she reported the matter to gardaí in Youghal.
On July 13, 2020, she woke to find her car wheels had been painted pink and discovered graffiti on her front window and window cill. Nine square panels had been daubed with X and O and the words "I win" had been painted on her window cill.
The following day she went to her car to find a black envelope on her windscreen. It contained a typed letter with sexual innuendo. It also had two condoms. The letter said that the writer hoped she was "feeling horny" and that it was "time they had some fun. "
The writer told her to leave her backdoor open so he could go to her home for sex. He said he hoped she was "shaved downstairs" as he liked it "smooth". He told her he was watching her and was looking forward to their moment together.
Ms Ring made a further statement to gardaí and CCTV was installed at her home. On July 23, 2020, she found another envelope on her windscreen. The writer expressed disappointment that sex hadn't occurred.
He told her they were going to have sex and that she had two options. These included leaving the back door of her property open for sex by consent. If this didn't occur he would rape her and her daughter.
The letter writer also told her to "make sure you are shaved downstairs or I will shave you." Ms Ring felt physically sick after reading the letter.
She viewed the CCTV footage and identified James Steele as the person who had dropped off the letter.
Gardaí mounted a surveillance operation arising out of the seriousness of the incident. On July 27, at 3.45am gardaí intercepted Mr Steele as he approached the driveway of the house of his intended victim in Youghal. He was arrested.
During the course of a further search at Midleton Garda Station, Mr Steele was found to have an 11-inch prosethetic dildo strapped to his body. The dildo was covered with a condom.
A search of his van was carried out with a lock-picking set recovered. His home was also searched with gardaí finding envelopes which matched those sent to the home of Ms Ring. They also found orange rope and spray paint cans.
Steele was interviewed on four occasions. He said the tone of the letters was "sick" and "disgusting" and told gardaí that his actions would have left Ms Ring "mortified, scared and frightened".
He admitted that he was carrying the duct tape in order to tie the hands and mouth of Ms Ring. Gardaí also uncovered an internet search by Steele for chloroform.
Steele accepted responsibility for all of the harassment and said that Ms Ring did not deserve any of his behaviour.
The court was told that the Australian national had no convictions of any kind in this country. He has a conviction for indecent assault in Australia in 1986 for which he received a small monetary fine.
Mr Steele will be supervised in the community for five years after his release from prison. He has been warned not to contact Ms Ring or her family directly or indirectly at any time in the future.
He had been charged and pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal damage, a count of harassment, possession of articles with intent to commit a robbery and a count of intended robbery with an intent to commit rape.
- If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please click here for a list of support services.
