A garda detective who was found guilty of harassing a State solicitor by sending her abusive letters and emails is to be placed in custody next week ahead of sentencing in January.
Judge Melanie Greally initially ordered that 49-year-old Eve Doherty be placed into custody immediately.
However, following defence submissions, Judge Greally agreed to give Doherty a few days to make arrangements.
Doherty was convicted of harassing Elizabeth Howlin, who worked with the Director of Public Prosecutions, between September 2011 and March 2013.
Her defence counsel said she was suffering from depression, anxiety and paranoia at the time and could not deal with a very stressful and difficult work environment.
Doherty was in a relationship with Ms Howlin's former partner.
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The court heard that over an 18-month period, letters and emails were sent to Ms Howlin's workplace, to her boss the DPP, Claire Loftus, and also to her GP, Frank Marmion.
Letters were also sent to Ms Howlin’s home, calling her "corrupt", "useless" and "incompetent", which the solicitor found very upsetting and distressing and an invasion of her privacy.
Obscene and insulting language was used and Ms Howlin was told "we are all watching every move you make".
A4 posters were also left around Ms Howlin's housing estate in Blackrock, falsely claiming she was a political appointee who would "pull" files to prevent the prosecution of anyone connected to her or the Government.
Ms Howlin is a distant cousin of Labour TD Brendan Howlin and their two pictures were put on the posters.
The court heard Doherty was put under surveillance and found sending an e-mail from a city centre internet cafe wearing a wig and dark glasses. She also wore a black beanie and scarf over her face.
When gardaí compared the e-mails and documents found in the sergeant's home and work locker they identified multiple examples of 60 common features, such as grammatical errors.
The court heard two letters found in her locker began "well smart b***h - still going through hell, I hope you are" and "ha ha ha, find a job yet".
Doherty denied the charges, but the jury found her guilty of harassment.
She worked in crime and security and her defence counsel said today she had been diagnosed with depression, paranoia and anxiety and could not deal adequately with a very stressful and difficult work environment.
Mr O'Higgins said this went some way towards analysing the context and understanding it better.
He said the psychological factor was very important and very often cases such as this are dealt with through medical intervention, rather than court and the full rigour of the law.
Mr O'Higgins asked the judge to consider a non-custodial sentence, such as community service.
He said she would face particular difficulties in prison as a serving garda.
Judge Greally said because of a lack of a guilty plea and a lack of remorse, a custodial sentence was inevitable. She remanded Doherty to be put in custody by 9am on Monday.
