{"id":371352,"date":"2026-03-06T18:02:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T18:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/371352\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T18:02:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T18:02:12","slug":"inishowen-man-bombarded-frightened-woman-with-1000-messages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/371352\/","title":{"rendered":"Inishowen man bombarded frightened woman with 1,000 messages"},"content":{"rendered":"

An infatuated young man who sent a woman more than 1,000 messages has been charged with harassment.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Matthew Smyth pleaded guilty to harassing the young woman when he appeared at Letterkenny District Court.<\/p>\n

Garda T\u00f3mas McMahon told the court that Smyth, of Dunross, Culdaff, bombarded the young woman with texts, videos and messages over the course of 2020.<\/p>\n

When the woman ignored all the messages, Smyth finally took to Facebook and named her publicly.<\/p>\n

In the message, Smyth said he used to like the woman but that he now hated her.<\/p>\n

When asked by Judge Emile Daly what the 29-year-old accused had said specifically, Garda McMahon revealed the message read \u201cFuck xxxxxxxx and everything she stands for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garda McMahon said the young woman, who is from Buncrana, never engaged with Smyth online.<\/p>\n

The text messages began in January 2020 and the last one was sent on December 12th, 2020, but stopped when Gardai became involved.<\/p>\n

Solicitor for the accused, Mr Patsy Gallagher, told the court that his client\u2019s understanding of life may not be as advanced as others.<\/p>\n

He put it to Garda McMahon that the messages to the victim were not malicious and the Garda agreed.<\/p>\n

Garda McMahon also told the court that a victim impact statement on behalf of the woman was canvassed but that she did not provide one.<\/p>\n

Solicitor Mr Gallagher stressed that there was no physical aggression on his client\u2019s behalf and there was actually no physical contact between the accused and his victim.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would suggest this was a case of immature infatuation gone wrong, consistent messaging to the extreme,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Gallagher added that his client comes from an isolated background and works on the family farm.<\/p>\n

Garda Inspector Johnny Sweeney said the accused had three previous convictions which centred around the production of an article in the course of a dispute on the family farm.<\/p>\n

Judge Daly asked the court if there had been any issue after Gardai had intervened and she was told there hadn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

She adjourned the case until September 3rd for a Probation Report and sentencing.<\/p>\n

Inishowen man bombarded frightened woman with 1,000 messages was last modified: March 6th, 2026 by Staff Writer<\/p>\n

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