A former Fianna Fáil councillor who harassed a 25-year-old waitress at work has been given a nine-month suspended jail sentence at the district court in Cork.
Joseph O'Donovan, formerly known as Gary O’Flynn, was before the district court for sentencing, having previously pleaded guilty to one count of harassment in late July and early August of 2022.
O'Donovan was a city councillor in Cork for five years, from 2003 to 2008.
In April, 2015, he was sentenced to five years in jail with three years suspended after he pleaded guilty to charges of soliciting a person to kill three people, including a garda.
In August, 2022, he was again arrested by gardaí and questioned, after a waitress at a restaurant in Cork city centre made a complaint of harassment against him.
The district court in Cork was told that O'Donovan, of Coolowen, Blarney, Cork, went to the restaurant in July, 2022, and drank wine there for two hours.
He called a waitress, kissed her hand and told her she was the nicest and prettiest girl he had ever seen.
The court was told that the waitress felt deeply uneasy.
He returned two days later and ordered food and wine. The waitress felt he was continuously staring in her direction.
He again took her hand and kissed it. He breathed into her ear and said: "Meet me outside for a tip and I better get your phone number for it."
The court heard that O'Donovan then went outside and started staring in the window. The waitress went out and told O'Donovan that he was not welcome and should leave.
However, he went back into the restaurant and asked the waitress if he could he see her again. He was asked to leave by management. He then threw a €50 note at the waitress.
O’Donovan returned to the restaurant on 6 August 2022, at around 10.30pm when the premises was near closing.
The waitress told him to leave and O’Donovan said that he was sorry and that he could not help it.
O’Donovan was arrested later that month.
He told gardaí he thought the young woman was very pretty and that he kissed her hand in a manner seen in movies. He claimed that he had carried out the gesture out of politeness and courtesy.
The former Fianna Fáil councillor said that he thought his interactions with the woman were "congenial".
He claimed that he never meant to upset her. He added that he believed he was simply flirting with her. He insisted he was very sorry for what had occurred.
The waitress read her victim impact statement to the court in June.
She said she had spent three years looking over her shoulder when she heard steps behind her.
"This man (O’Donovan) looked me in the eye and called himself a creep," she said.
"This man looked me in the eyes and called himself a stalker. Then laughed about it - laughter with a laugh that still makes me recoil in fear to this day. That moment has never left me. Because in that moment I realised I wasn’t dealing with someone who didn’t understand boundaries, but someone who chose to violate them."
She claimed that O'Donovan's actions were deliberate, not misunderstandings. She said he ignored boundaries, and that it was not harmless.
"It was obsessive and it left me terrified in places that I used to feel safe," the waitress said.
Defence solicitor, Frank Buttimer, said O'Donovan was hugely remorseful for his actions. He said his client had failed to read the situation properly.
Judge Mary Dorgan described the victim impact statement as a "compelling read".
She said a probation report on O’Donovan had assessed him as being of "low risk" of reoffending.
Sentencing O'Donovan this afternoon, she noted that he had 26 previous convictions.
She also noted his guilty plea, and that he was no longer taking alcohol. She said she had no doubt alcohol had exacerbated his behaviour.
She also said compensation had been paid.
She imposed a sentence of nine months in jail, suspended for two years. She placed O'Donovan on a probation bond for 18 months, and ordered him to stay off intoxicants.
He was also ordered to have no contact with the victim in this case, directly or indirectly.
