A 35-year-old man has been handed down a conviction for contravening the Children Act in naming a teenage murderer on social media.
Glen Dunphy told gardaí he sought out and published the name of a teenager convicted of the murder of a girl because he had daughters himself, a court was told.
The father-of-two, of Lartigue Village, Listowel, was summonsed before Listowel District Court in November, on a single allegation that he had published the name of Boy B - a person whose identity is protected by the Children Act 2001 as a child in proceedings before the Central Criminal Court - on his Twitter account .
Sergeant Kieran O'Connell told Judge David Waters the matter was "indictable" but the Director of Public Prosecutions had said it could be dealt with in the District Court.
The matter was adjourned to 17 December for a plea or to fix a date for hearing.
Dunphy pleaded guilty to the single charge and he was convicted and fined €600
Garda Adrian Gildea, in evidence, told how following the conviction of two teenage boys last year for the murder of a teenage girl, Dunphy did an online search in an effort to uncover the name.
He then posted the name on a Twitter thread which was speculating on the boys' identities.
When gardai from Dublin interviewed Dunphy by appointment in Listowel Garda Station, he told them he became angry because he had daughters himself.
He was cooperative with gardaí and sorry for what he had done.
Solicitor Patrick Mann put it to the garda that his client only sought out the boy's name because he was angry over the killing and because he had daughters of his own and the garda agreed.
Mr Mann said Dunphy admitted to the act and was sorry.
His client did not originate the thread but had contributed to it, the solicitor said.
Mr Mann said is client is married, is employed and has two daughters.
Judge David Waters said the charge was serious .
The judge said there was no doubt that Dunphy knew he was doing something he should not be doing.
Judge Waters imposed a conviction and fined Dunphy.
