A Carndonagh man, who breached a safety order and put his ex-wife ‘in fear’, has been given the benefit of the Probation Act.
Michael McDaid, 51, of Altashane, Carn, was accused of breaching a safety order against his estranged wife, and putting her in fear, on October 11, 2015.
McDaid admitted the charged against him when he appeared before Carn District Court.
The court heard that the couple had a dispute over custody of their youngest son on the day in question as Mr. McDaid wanted to extend his hours of custody from 3pm to 7pm.
Garda Declan Lambe told the court that Mrs McDaid sent her ex-husband a text message when he failed to appear at the designated time. Gda. Lambe said text messages were exchanged between the couple before Mr. McDaid rang his ex-wife.
Gda. Lambe said during the phone call he said “hell will never be full until you are in it”.
“Mrs McDaid took this as a threat and she feared for her safety,” Gda. Lambe outlined. “She was forced to stay away from her home as she was afraid.”
Defence solicitor for Mr. McDaid, Mr Heron said his client was co-operative when questioned by gardaí. He added that there was no allegation of any violence being used towards Mrs. McDaid.
Gda. Lambe agreed, however he added that the Carn man was not apologetic for his actions.
Mr. Heron said his client just wanted to extend his rights of access to their 11-year-old son but this was not agreeable by Mrs. McDaid. He admitted that Mr. McDaid ‘lost the head’ on the day but added that he did drop his son off then.
“He does admit saying the phrase, but he was upset regarding access to his child and this has had a dramatic affect on him,” McDaid’s solicitor added.
Garda inspector David Murphy told the court that the request for extra hours of access were not just not objected to by Mrs. McDaid but also by their son.
Mr. Heron asked the court for leniency for his client, who works as a care assistant, as it was his first offence.
He added: “He has admitted this but the threat was on the lower end of the scale. The safety order is still in force, I’d ask the Court to be as lenient as possible.”
Judge Kelly agreed and gave Mr. McDaid the benefit of the Probation Act as it was his first offence. However he warned the Carn man ‘not to be under any illusions’, adding that a safety order is a ‘very serious’ thing.
Judge Kelly said if McDaid was back before the courts on the same breach again there would be ‘much more severe penalties’