MAN WHO PUT TRACKING DEVICE ON EX-GIRLFRIEND'S CAR JAILED FOR HARASSMENT
A woman who was being stalked by her former partner, who would appear unexpectedly at various locations across County Cork, took her car to a mechanic on Garda advice, revealing a tracking device attached to the exhaust pipe.Seán Fagan, aged 39 and residing at Dunvale Crescent, Frankfield, Douglas, received a four-year sentence from Cork Circuit Criminal Court on Monday, with the last two years suspended, for harassment spanning from September 26, 2021, to March 12, 2022.
Judge Dermot Sheehan ordered Fagan to avoid any direct or indirect contact with his former girlfriend and not to approach within 500 metres of her residence or workplace for a duration of 15 years.
During her victim impact statement read aloud in court, the young woman expressed her hope that others would recognise the severity and danger of stalking, emphasising its damaging effects and urging that no other woman should experience such harm.
Garda Joe Maher testified that the victim and Fagan had been in a relationship starting in July 2018, which ended in January 2020 due to difficulties.
Following the breakup, their communication was limited, with the last message exchanged on September 7, 2021.
On that day, the woman discovered Fagan’s bank card on the ground behind her car outside her home.
Gardaí were informed, and they warned Fagan to stay away from her.
Subsequently, while dining with a friend in Douglas, the woman attempted to change her car’s parking disk.
When she returned to the restaurant, Fagan approached her from behind and tried to start a conversation, claiming he knew she had a new boyfriend and that he was tracking her movements.
On another occasion, the woman was at a friend’s house in Cobh.
Two residents observed Fagan sitting in his BMW near the property.
When she and her friend left to go to a shop, the residents saw Fagan crouch in his car and follow them on foot, prompting them to alert the woman.
Fagan explained he was considering buying a house in the area when confronted.
Later, at a café in Innishannon where she was with her mother, Fagan parked right outside, then moved to the opposite side of the street after a few minutes.
Following Garda advice, her mechanic discovered a tracking device attached to her car’s exhaust pipe on March 13, 2022.
Gardaí then searched Fagan’s home, finding two tracking devices and a tracking app on his phone, which showed locations corresponding to her home and her journeys.
Initially claiming others used his phone and that some encounters were coincidental, Fagan eventually pleaded guilty to harassment during the six-month period from September 2021 to March 2022.
Defence senior counsel, Alice Fawsitt, said there had been no communication for the past four years.
She said of the defendant: “He is still maintaining coincidence in relation to early matters but is still pleading guilty.
He did not want to frighten her.
"It was never his intention to hurt her.
He did not consider the impact on her.
(The probation service puts him) at a low risk of reoffending.
Without attempting to minimise the effect on the victim there was no threat of violence.
"He has no previous convictions.
He does regret his actions — it is a serious offence.”
