A father has had his bail revoked after allegedly breaching a protection order by repeatedly using the Revolut payment messaging feature to communicate with his former partner.
Earlier this week, Tallaght District Court heard that the accused, who pays €80 per week in child support, is alleged to have used the Revolut app on March 13 last to send a love heart emoji with his payment on one occasion, with a white flag emoji sent seven days later.
On a third occasion, along with the payment, he allegedly sent a text message saying that the complainant was a “great mother” and to “let him know if she needed anything”.
The complainant told the court that she believes the messages were not innocent and were an attempt to “emotionally manipulate her”.
She said that the love heart emoji was sent on the same day that she and her former partner had been in the family court and she viewed the message as sarcastic. She described feeling unsafe and stated that any communication from the accused caused her significant distress.
The complainant further testified that she had to change the locks on her home and feared for her safety, telling the court that: “Every car that passes, I feel like it’s going to be him.” She told Judge Patricia McNamara that she was trying to raise their children alone and did not want to continue living in fear.
The prosecution argued that the messages, even in emoji form, breached a protection order which strictly prohibited any form of contact.
The accused man, who was already on bail for a previous alleged breach, was charged on March 27 with breaching a protection order.
Earlier this week, gardaí objected to bail on the new charges, citing concerns for the complainant’s safety. The court was told that the accused had previously been difficult to contact and it is alleged that there had been multiple breaches of the protection order.
Gardaí referenced a previous alleged incident on January 22 last, in which they attempted to reach the accused but were unsuccessful. The court heard the defendant later phoned the garda within six minutes of missing the call, claiming he was driving at the time.
Counsel for the accused man, who has no prior convictions, acknowledged that his client had made an “error of judgment” but argued that he did not intend to intimidate his former partner.
However, Judge McNamara revoked the man’s bail on the previous charge and refused bail on the new charges after finding that the alleged breaches were serious and deliberate.
The man was remanded in custody to Cloverhill Prison, with his next appearance scheduled for April 4 before the High Court.