A Garda harassed his former lover by bombarding her with nearly 3,000 nuisance phone calls in a nine-month period, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard.
Austin Woods met Ms Collette Johnson in 1997 when she was the owner of a bar and bed-and-breakfast in Granard, Co Longford, and he was stationed at Finglas Garda station in Dublin.
Supt Thomas Murphy told Mr Colm Smyth, prosecuting, that the relationship started as merely a client-customer one but later developed when both were invited to the same wedding in February 1998.
Supt Murphy said Ms Johnson had previously turned down many invitations by Woods to attend Garda functions.
When their relationship ended, approximately six months later, Woods became annoyed and started to make up to 200 nuisance calls daily to Ms Johnson, forcing her to sell her bar in Granard and move to Cootehill, Co Cavan, where she opened up another bed-and-breakfast.
Woods managed to obtain her new land-line and mobile numbers and resumed phoning her. Often he would make no sound, while at other times he would make loud grunts or call her names.
Woods (42), with addresses at Nephin Road, Cabra, Dublin, and Shanmullagh, Hackballscross, Co Louth, pleaded guilty to two counts of harassing Ms Johnson by continuously communicating and pestering her by telephone and of persistently making use of telecommunications to cause annoyance, anxiety and inconvenience to her between June 13th, 1999, and March 16th, 2000.
Judge Dominic Lynch said he needed some time to consider the matter and adjourned sentence to Friday.
Supt Murphy said he took a statement from Ms Johnson in January 2000 in which she said the past few months had been hell on Earth" and she feared for her life.
He said Woods was arrested at Cabra Garda station, where he was then stationed, on January 31st, 2000, and following a search of his locker a mobile phone and various SIM cards were found.
Supt Murphy said in June 2000 a board was set up to investigate Woods's behaviour and he was given 21 days to resign or be dismissed. He appealed the decision but later took steps to resign.