A woman whose former work colleague harassed her, threatened her and tried to break into her home has spoken about her "absolutely terrifying" ordeal.
Una Ring told RTÉ's Claire Byrne Live how she was subjected to a campaign of terror by the man, which ended with him trying to break into her house and rape her.
James Steele, a 52-year-old salesman from west Cork, was last week sentenced to seven years in prison, with two suspended, after he was convicted of a charge of attempted burglary with intent to rape.
He also pleaded guilty to charges of harassment and criminal damage.
Recalling how her ordeal began, Ms Ring said: "We were not friends, we were purely work colleagues."
When Steele took up a job elsewhere, he asked her to help him organise a conference. "We went into the conference room where we were meant to be setting up the stuff and there was nothing there," said Ms Ring.
"It was literally just a table. There was no chairs, no white boards and I was like 'I'm in trouble here'.
"So I turned around and said 'what's going on?' and next thing his arms were around me and he was trying to kiss me and I just kept moving.
"All I could do was move my head away because his arms were around my arms.
"I was just asking him to stop and I said 'I don't want this' and he kept saying 'You won't know until you try' and I kept pleading with him to stop." In the end, she managed to push him away.
"When he mentioned my daughter, I was in a state of panic" - Una Ring
— Claire Byrne Live (@ClaireByrneLive) February 8, 2021
Claire Byrne Live hears from Cork woman Una Ring who describes her horrifying ordeal with a stalker. #CBLive pic.twitter.com/ts5XHEcLct
Ms Ring said the next morning, he started bombarding her with texts. She ignored them, unless work-related.
In April of last year, he told her, 'As I have not heard from you, I am going to call to your house.'
She "did not know" if he knew her address in Youghal. "I told him, 'Don't call to my house, don't contact me again.' He said fine."
Her health began to suffer and she visited her GP in early June. "I was very, very uneasy. I felt quite unwell and anxious.
"Every time the phone beeped, I wondered was that going to be him? Every knock on the door. The fear was instilled in me - will he find out where I live?"
A few days later, Ms Ring went to the gardaí with a printed statement of what had happened. "I just wanted there to be a record in case anything happened to me or anyone else."
Then, in July, she woke to paint on her windows with symbols for X (kisses) and O (hugs) and the words 'I win'. The following night, Steele left a letter on the windscreen of her car.
CCTV footage later captured him on a separate visit leaving another "frightening and threatening" letter.
Ms Ring said: "It was absolutely terrifying. The fact he mentioned my daughter [in the letter] brought it to a whole other level. I was in a state of panic."
She said the guards were "fantastic" and kept watch over the house. Four nights later, they caught her stalker, armed with a crowbar, on the property and arrested him.
I heard muffled voices outside and the clank of the crowbar that he threw into the driveway next door - Una Ring
— Claire Byrne Live (@ClaireByrneLive) February 8, 2021
Una Ring tells Claire about being subjected to a chilling campaign of harassment by a man who tried to break into her house to rape her. #CBLive pic.twitter.com/XwScF5Scya
Ms Ring said that despite Steele being behind bars, she will not get over her ordeal quickly.
"I have to persuade myself mentally that I am safe. I check the back of my car and the locks in my house."
She urged women to tell gardaí if they were being harassed. "They will look after you, they will protect you."
She said of her local gardaí: "I owe them everything, they were so kind. They went above and beyond."
The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre thanked Una Ring for sharing her story. "It's so important to know support is available. RCC 24-Hour Helpline 1800 77 8888," it said in a post on Twitter.
