Man (23) remanded for contact with girl

A MAN sent a “deeply disturbing” bloodstained letter to a 15-year-old girl after giving a court undertaking to stay away from…

A MAN sent a “deeply disturbing” bloodstained letter to a 15-year-old girl after giving a court undertaking to stay away from her, a judge heard yesterday.

Judge Kevin Kilraine, who at an earlier sitting of Sligo District Court had warned Kamaldeep Kamaldeep to have no contact with the girl, remanded him in custody.

The judge had initially ordered Kamaldeep (23), Annamoe Road, Dublin, to leave Sligo before 5pm yesterday and not to return until his next local court appearance on February 25th. However when he failed to reply after being asked what he would do if the girl contacted him, Judge Kilraine said he had changed his mind and remanded him in custody.

Kamaldeep yesterday pleaded guilty to trespass at the Health Service Executive (HSE)-run accommodation, where the teenage girl was living, on December 29th.

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Garda James McGovern told the court he had arrested him at the HSE shelter in Sligo at 2.20am that night. He was aware a court order had been made requiring Kamaldeep to stay away from the unit.

His solicitor Mark Mullaney told the court that the girl no longer lived at this address but Judge Kilraine said he was still concerned because of the “very determined efforts” made by Kamaldeep to contact her.

At a sitting of the court last month, Kamaldeep promised to avoid having any contact with her, but added: “This is a matter of the heart, not of the mind. I will try.” The girl told a court sitting last month that no one could stop her talking to someone – “I love him with all my heart.”

Mr Hegarty also told the judge that Kamaldeep had sent a “deeply deeply disturbing” letter to the girl which had bloodstains all over it and which was very worrying and disturbing. Judge Kilraine said Kamaldeep was smiling in the witness box and did not appear to understand the seriousness of the issue. While culturally things might be different in India, “he is not there now”.

Kamaldeep was charged with immigration offences in Dublin and is due before the High Court on February 18th.

Marese McDonagh

Marese McDonagh

Marese McDonagh, a contributor to The Irish Times, reports from the northwest of Ireland