A man who telephoned and harassed his girlfriend with almost 6,000 phone calls has been jailed for 21 months.
Kevin Dunleavy pleaded guilty at Letterkenny Circuit Court in Co Donegal of carrying out the tirade of abuse against partner Caoimhe Crossan during what was described in court as a "toxic relationship".
Over a three-month period from March until June in 2019, 33-year-old Dunleavy made 5,757 telephone calls to Ms Crossan.
Dunleavy forced Ms Crossan to take her phone everywhere with her so he knew where she was. He even called on her on Facetime and made her scan her location for him.
He pleaded guilty to a number of charges including coercive control, harassment and making threats to damage property.
In what is the first successful prosecution of coercive control in the country, Judge John Aylmer sentenced the accused to a total of two and a half years but suspended the final nine months of the sentence.
In her victim impact statement to court, Ms Crossan said the first four years of the relationship were good and that Dunleavy was a good partner and father.
However, he became possessive and he also began to cheat on her.
During the spate of harassment, Ms Crossan went to stay in a hotel so Dunleavy could not find out where she was.
He telephoned her and threatened her and the recordings of his threats were played in court.
Passing sentence, Judge Aylmer said it was clear from the probation report that Dunleavy had a number of difficulties.
However, he added that he has been a model prisoner and that he was using his time in prison well.
He sentenced him to a total of two and a half years but suspended the last nine months of the sentence.
He also ordered Dunleavy to stay off drink and drugs and stay out of Donegal unless for court appearances or to have scheduled access to his son.
He also ordered him to undertake whatever domestic violence courses he was offered while in prison.
