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A businessman sent dozens of “vile” text messages to his niece over a five-year period.
Martin Hughes sent Michelle Doherty a catalog of these messages between 2011 and 2016.
The 68-year-old father and grandfather appeared in Letterkenny Circuit Court on Thursday, where he pleaded guilty to one count of stalking.
The court heard how Ms Doherty’s life fell apart when she began receiving anonymous text messages, including some that threatened to cut her throat.
She moved to Spain and changed her phone number, but was devastated when she began receiving text messages there.
State Attorney Patricia McLaughlin began reading what she said were “vile” text messages. Judge John Aylmer only asked for a sample of them.
The victim’s mother and father were in court and said Doherty had consented to have his identity used so that Hughes could be identified within his community.
He also sent text messages referring to Ms. Doherty’s father, the well-known former Donegal County Councilor Mickey Doherty, asking “How did that fat pig of a father lose in the election ha ha?”
McLaughlin said the texts were sexually explicit and racially offensive.
Det Garda Martin Egan told the court that Ms Doherty contacted the Gardaí and an investigation was launched. He said the public might think it is easy to trace a phone, but it is not easy to trace an unregistered Northern Ireland mobile due to jurisdictional and other issues. However, working with the European Police organization Interpol, Gardaí eventually traced the phone to Hughes.
On September 29, 2016, Gardaí arrived at his home in Quigley’s Point, Co Donegal, with a search warrant and Hughes led them to a corner of his garage where he kept the phone he used to send text messages in a cardboard box. .
When interviewed at Buncrana Garda station, he admitted to texting Ms Doherty.
Det Egan said there were 438 contacts between Doherty’s and Hughes’ various phones.
Speaking via video link from Spain, Ms Doherty (44) said that at times she physically vomited when reading the texts and was paranoid as to who was sending them.
He decided to move to New York to try to start over, but a few weeks later he broke his neck in a terrible accident. A few days later he received a text message from the same phone that said “. . . I heard you broke your neck, too bad you didn’t come back in a body bag. “
Peter Nolan, in defense, said his client accepted that the texts were “despicable”. However, he said it was Ms. Doherty who sent Hughes the first text message in 2008 expressing joy over the breakdown of their marriage.
He also said that Ms. Doherty owed her client money after she rented him a property, but did not pay the rent.
“They [the texts] they are particularly hurtful and unpleasant in some cases and he does not deny it. But he feels that Ms. Doherty interfered, ”he said.
He said his client, who is the licensee of The Point Lodge Bar, has no prior convictions, adding that “this was caused by emotional difficulties due to the failure of the marriage and caused by alcohol and he went overboard.”
Judge Aylmer said he would need time to consider the sentence and postponed the matter to Friday.
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