Garda says ‘coward’ found guilty of harassment concocted lies about him on fake Facebook account

Garda Daithi King said ‘nasty’ fake comments made by Jason Downes, that left his wife ‘nervous and scared’ are still mentioned to him nearly five years later

• Share

A Garda has told a court that a west Clare man “acted like a coward and concocted lies about me” on a fake Facebook account.

At Ennis Circuit Court on Wednesday, Garda David (Daithi) King said that Jason Downes, 31, “had no regard for his actions and the effect they could potentially have”. Garda King made his comments in a victim impact statement on Wednesday at the sentencing hearing of Mr Downes.

In the case, a jury last November returned a majority 10-2 guilty verdict where Mr Downes, of St Michael’s Place Kilmihil, Co Clare, was accused of harassing Garda King by persistently communicating with him on dates between June 6 and June 16 2020 and thereby causing him alarm and distress contrary to Section 10 of Non Fatal Offences Against The Person Act.

In his victim impact statement, Garda King told the court that he has worked in the west Clare area since 2017 and he built up good working relationships with people from all areas of the community.

He said: “This incident meant that people in the community have lost trust in a member of An Garda Síochána they would previously have turned to in a time of need.

Garda King said: “After this incident I had to start again to build up a good reputation in the community I serve. Despite this, the comments made in these Facebook posts are still mentioned to me by some members of the public on a regular basis to this day.”Father of four children aged two to 10, Mr Downes said that at the time, he lost his job, struggled with addiction “and I was selfish”. Asked about the apology, Garda King told the court: “He has had five years to apologise.”

In evidence in the trial last November, Ciara Bohan told the jury how she was left ‘nervous and scared’ over “nasty” comments made about her husband from the anonymous Facebook account. Ms Bohan said that she was left “upset and vulnerable” over the anonymous Facebook messenger messages she received about her husband, Garda King, in June 2020.

Ms Bohan was seven months’ pregnant at the time and also had a toddler at home when she received messages from a Facebook profile with the name Tommy Teirnan, spelt wrong.

In one message received on her own Facebook account on June 16 2020, it said ‘tell your husband he is only a shitty arse coward. I will find out more about him and when I do, he will be very sorry’. Ms Bohan said that her husband is well respected amongst his peers and “then to receive the nasty messages and nasty sentiments expressed by someone – it is very hurtful”.

Judge Francis Comerford told the court that he will impose sentence in the case on Friday and remanded Mr Downes on continuing bail.