Cork man avoids conviction after breaching two‑year barring order

A Cork man who sent ten WhatsApp messages to his wife hours after a two‑year barring order was made has avoided a conviction in Bantry District Court.

The unnamed man pleaded guilty to breaching the order, which explicitly prohibited any contact with his wife. On the evening the order was issued, he went to a pub, drank alcohol and, just after 10pm, sent ten messages to his wife over an 18‑minute period.

He was arrested later that night and spent the night in custody. Defence solicitor Flor Murphy said her client had gone to the pub “feeling sorry for himself” and sent messages he should not have sent, adding that the messages were not threatening.

Murphy noted the couple had been together for more than 20 years and had children, and that the man had struggled with the separation but maintained a good relationship with his teenage and adult children. He is now living and working in another part of the county.

Judge Joanne Carroll observed that there had been no difficulty since the incident in April 2026 and that the man had complied with the terms of the barring order. She applied the Probation Act and declined to record a conviction.

Source: Irish Examiner. Photo: Irbaf photo / Pexels.