A 27-year-old man who stalked and harassed two sisters, making their lives ‘a living hell’ was jailed yesterday.
Alan Higgins of Ballymacurley, Castleplunkett, Castlerea, Co Roscommon pleaded guilty last year to two charges of harassing the two young women on dates between November 2011 and February 2012.
Kylie (26) and Ailish (22) Beirne have said that they are in fear of their lives and terrified of what would happen once Alan Higgins is released from custody.
A previous sitting of Roscommon Circuit Criminal Court heard that Higgins had briefly attended the same second-level school as the two sisters.
He began to harass Kylie and took pictures of her in her school uniform without her consent and sent them along with obscene pictures – not of her – to her home. He seemed to be infatuated with her, the court heard.
A letter Higgins had written was subsequently found in a shop in Castlerea in which he said that he wanted to bring her to a public park in Castlerea and described what he would like to do to her sexually.
The letter contained a list of her friends and he threatened to kill them if they were seen in her company because she was ‘his’.
The court heard that Kylie ‘was in fear of her life’ at what Alan Higgins would do to her.
In November, 2011 Ailish Beirne had received a facebook message from Higgins identifying himself and telling her she was pretty.
Shortly afterwards he sent another message telling her that he had her and her sister’s pictures on his PS3 and added ‘when I get a car, I’ll stalk ye both’.
In February of 2012 she had received a sexually obscene e-mail from Higgins and calling her ‘a f---ing bitch’. Ailish had to be hospitalised due to the stress and fear of Alan Higgins.
Yesterday Judge Tony Hunt referred to the obsessive and distressing nature of his offending. It was obvious he had a series of issues and difficulties, the judge said.
He described it as ‘an extremely upsetting and traumatic case’ which had been aggravated by the effect on his victims.
He imposed a prison sentence of three years and six months and suspended the final 18 months. He directed that Higgins comply with a two-year post-release supervision order and directed that he have no contact, either directly or indirectly with his victims for an indefinite period.
Addressing Alan Higgins, the judge added: “You’d better not come back to this room again, because there will be no more suspensions”.