A woman who carried out what was described as a narcissistic smear campaign of terror against her ex-girlfriend has been jailed for two years and three months at the Circuit Criminal Court.
Andreia Funico was described as "a monster" by the woman she harassed for months by setting up fake profiles on dating apps and social media platforms after their relationship had ended.
The Circuit Criminal Court heard the fake dating profiles resulted in men calling to her ex-girlfriend's home at various times of the day and night expecting to engage in sexual acts.
Funico also set up fake Instagram accounts in her ex-girlfriend's name and sent explicit material to her family and friends.
Graffiti was also written on her parents home calling her "a gay liar".
She pleaded guilty to harassment and was today jailed by Judge Martin Nolan, who said the pattern of harassment was "thought out and pretty devious and was calculated to inflict damage on the injured party". He said her actions had caused great distress and had a serious traumatic effect.
Detective Garda Ciaran Flanagan told prosecuting counsel Fiona McGowan that Funico and the woman had matched on a dating app in July 2022 and the relationship became quite intense early on. The woman, a former garda, would stay in her hotel when Funico was working in Ireland and would also visit her in Portugal.
However, the relationship ended towards the end of 2022 and the woman had told Funico she was going on holiday to Australia for Christmas with her family. In the days before she left, she received a number of calls and lewd pictures from phone numbers she did not recognise, and men she did not know began calling to her home. She discovered a fake profile of her had been set up on a dating app and the person operating it was inviting the men to her home for sex.
She left for Australia but the harassment continued in the form of eight fake Instagram accounts being set up in her name and inviting her friends and family to follow the account, which contained a video and a picture of her topless. The woman discovered the video had been taken without her knowledge during a whatsapp video call with Funico during their relationship. Her mother and aunt were also sent pornographic pictures from the Instagram accounts.
The woman had to extend her stay in Australia to receive medical treatment because of the distress she was suffering at the time. Around the time that she should have been back in Ireland, men started calling to her door again and she discovered another fake account had been set up on a second dating site.
She also discovered graffiti had been painted on the walls of her parents' home calling her a "gay liar", which the court was told was a result of the fake profiles being set up.
Funico was arrested in April 2023 as she arrived in Ireland for work. She admitted being in a relationship with the woman but denied harassing her. However, her phone was seized and details of email accounts used to set up the social media profiles were found. Her number matched the number used to set up some of the accounts.
Defence Counsel Diana Stuart told the court her client had significant mental health difficulties which "continue to this day". She said the actions were "unsophisticated and opportunistic" and were done out of "fear and exasperation and a fractured state of mind". She said her client apologised profusely and was aware of "the cruel, unjust and inexcusable pain" she had caused the injured party.
She asked Judge Nolan not to send her to prison as she is the sole guardian and carer for her elderly mother who is ill in Portugal. Ms Stuart said her client had no contact with the inured party since her arrest and would undertake never to visit Ireland again. After the sentence she asked if her client could be allowed to return to Portugal to see her elderly mother for what would probably be "the last time" but Judge Nolan said he could not accede to that request.
'My home became a realm of terror for me'
In her victim impact statement, the woman said there were no words to properly explain the psychological and emotional impact the harassment caused.
She said from the beginning, Funico's behaviour unnerved her and she was afraid of her.
"One or two red flags became many and I began to feel trapped," she said.
She said she attended a therapist and worked on "an escape strategy" but when she ended the relationship she felt afraid because she "knew nothing good was going to result from a narcissist feeling defeated".
The woman said her instincts were correct and the harassment began in November 2022. When she ignored her messages, she "simply ignited a burning rage for revenge" resulting in Funico contacting her family and friends. She said that when she started receiving messages from strange men, she used her skills as a former garda to discover the fake profiles.
"Men were coming to my home on the assumption of a sexual encounter with me. The danger these actions put me in, living alone, goes without saying," she said.
"I had been in plenty of dangerous situations in the gardaí and dealt with some of the most feared organised crime gang figures in the country but I have never felt fear like this fear. My home, where I am meant to feel safe, became a realm of terror for me."
She said Christmas 2022, which she spent in Australia with family, was supposed to be an unforgettable one and it was for all the wrong reasons. The fake Instagram accounts and the material posted on them were designed to tarnish her reputation and character and paint her as unstable and insane, she said.
"Words cannot express the horror and humiliation this caused," she said. She suffered from paranoia, hypervigilance, PTSD, anxiety and depression and had to stay in Australia for a number of months for treatment. The woman said the harassment lasted five months but the effects of it had lasted three years. Her family had also been affected, along with her health, her sporting activities and her career.
"I spent a long time hating myself for falling for the lies, for believing the charm, for staying when I should have run. I thought it was my fault – that I was weak, naive or desperate. But now I see I was targeted like prey," the woman said.
"I have had to rebuild myself from rubble and my hope is one day I can be the person I once was."
She said the damage is ongoing and while justice may address her actions, it "cannot restore the years I have lost or the sense of safety that was taken from me.".
The woman thanked her family, friends and the gardaí for their efforts in bringing this "complex case to prosecution and affirming my belief in the justice system".
"The abuse I endured was premeditated, planned and so much thought put into every aspect of it. It was not a moment of cruelty, it was sustained campaign of terror designed to destroy me. It ticks every box a narcissistic smear campaign," she said.
"I share this in the hope that it might offer comfort to another victim going through a similar experience to remind them there is light at the end of the tunnel. Hope is real and they are not alone."
