A man who previously received a four-month prison sentence for offences under the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act against his former partner - now a Sinn Féin MEP - has had his sentence increased on appeal.
Seán Tyrrell of Cypress Grove, Loughboy, Kilkenny, was previously given a four-month custodial sentence, with a separate four-month jail term suspended for two years, for offences under the legislation, which is also known as Coco's Law.
The 39-year-old previously pleaded guilty to the offences which relate to August 2022, when Kathleen Funchion was a TD for the Carlow-Kilkenny constituency.
Last April, before Kilkenny District Court, he was given a four-month custodial sentence, with a separate four-month jail term suspended for two years. However, he took a severity-only appeal before Kilkenny Circuit Court.
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Judge Cormac Quinn today increased the previous custodial sentence handed down to Tyrrell to one of five months.
The judge also increased the suspended sentence Tyrrell previously received from four months to five months.
This second sentence was again suspended in full for a period of two years from today on condition that the accused be of good behaviour and not communicate with or about Ms Funchion.
The judge said he was also taking two other matters on appeal from the district court into consideration.
Giving a brief summary of the evidence this morning, the judge said the parties first had a professional relationship when Ms Funchion was running for elected office and Tyrrell was a volunteer with the Sinn Féin party.
Kilkenny Circuit Court was told that the accused then came to work in Ms Funchion's constituency office after she was elected as a TD.
The judge said a personal relationship subsequently developed between the parties, which continued over a period of years but then turned "fractious."
Judge Quinn said Tyrrell had "trust issues" that were "unfounded".
He said Tyrrell insisted that he have access to Ms Funchion's passwords for her phone, email accounts and her computers.
The court heard that when the relationship broke down, Tyrrell alleged he had contributed money towards a deposit for a house.
The judge said on "various occasions," Tyrrell had sought for Ms Funchion to take a lie detector test. She did not accede to this request and the couple separated in April 2022.
The court was told Ms Funchion made a complaint to the gardaí about certain email and text messages communications sent by the accused.
Judge Quinn said an email account of Tyrrell had made contact with a journalist.
Threat to expose 'embarrassing allegations'
An email was also sent from Tyrrell's email address to Ms Funchion setting out that he wanted a meeting with the leader of Sinn Féin, Mary Lou McDonald, in relation to the "issues" he had, and that again Ms Funchion would take a lie detector test.
In this email, the judge said Tyrrell also included screenshots that showed he had been in communication with the journalist in question.
The court was told that if Ms Funchion did not meet his demands, Tyrrell threatened to expose "embarrassing allegations" about her to journalists, and other named parties.
The judge said all of these allegations were unfounded and untrue and the offending had caused Ms Funchion enormous distress in both her personal and professional life.
Judge Quinn said he was taking a number of mitigating factors into consideration, including that the accused had a history of work, he was on a rehabilitation community employment scheme at the moment and working as a labourer.
He also said he was treating Tyrrell as someone with no previous convictions, who had not come to any subsequent adverse attention.
The judge said he was also taking into account Tyrrell's apology to Ms Funchion.
However, he said the aggravating factors in the case were the nature of the emails, that the offending was a substantial breach of trust given both their professional and personal relationship, the effect that the offending had on Ms Funchion, and that the actions of the accused were premeditated and intended to inflict harm.
The judge said he was also taking into a consideration a probation report, requested by David Roberts BL for the accused, but which "on a whole" was "not a helpful report to the appellant."
Judge Quinn said, as a result, a custodial sentence was warranted and inevitable.
'Huge sense of relief'
Ms Funchion said she was relieved at today's outcome.
Speaking to RTÉ's News at One, she said she had felt last April that she had finally come to the end, but was then "dragged back through the appeals process".
"It was really difficult to take, that it was ongoing. To have the sentence increased today, I really feel a huge sense of relief again," she told the programme.
"To actually physically see that he has gone to prison - because he hadn't gone to prison before, he hadn't served any of the time because it had been appealed.
"I really feel I got justice. I feel the judge listened. I feel vindicated."
Ms Funchion said she hopes today's decision will send a message to other women to not give up or lose hope.
She said there are isolating and lonely moments, adding that "you really do doubt and question yourself as to whether you did the right thing".
She said there is a sense of justice when a judge recognises that a person "really wronged you and deserves to go to jail".
"What a person does in that situation is, they make you really doubt yourself. They make you question yourself. They totally affect your confidence and self esteem, so that you believe you are the person that's in the wrong," Ms Funchion said.
"I really took solace from hearing other women's stories when they came out and spoke about it ... I would encourage women to seek support."
Speaking outside Kilkenny Courthouse this afternoon, Ms Funchion also called for more resources for gardaí and more supports for victims.
She said this was particularly important because a lot of offending now takes place online and this takes more time to investigate.
The Sinn Féin MEP also thanked the gardaí attached to the protective services unit in Kilkenny for their work and support, and the judge for giving her a "sense of justice".
