Co Tyrone man warned by District Judge to have 'no more dealings' with woman he befriended on Snapchat
A District Judge has warned a young Co Tyrone man who became obsessed with a female, to have no more dealings with her ever again.
Twenty-year-old Benjamin McReynolds from Tamlaghtmore Road, Stewartstown, was placed on Probation for two years for engaging in a course of abusive behaviour in July last year.
Putting in place a two-year restraining order, District Judge Francis Rafferty told McReynolds at Dungannon Magistrates Court on Wednesday, that he was not the first person to “lose the run of themselves”.
“You made repeated and sustained attempts to contact her, made unannounced attendances, and disregarded police and court imposed sanctions,” he said.
"But let me make it clear, you are to have no contact with this woman. Your future is in your own hands.”
Prosecution counsel told the court the 17-year-old victim had received a notification on Snapchat from McReynolds and they developed a “cordial, platonic relationship”.
She said he later became obsessive, informing the victim she could no longer post certain images of herself on social media ordering her to take them down, and threatening to kill himself if she did not remove them.
The victim was told by her mother to block the defendant on all forums and she did, however he managed to contact her mother through her work-based WhatsApp group.
Counsel said he sent messages to her and claimed to be suicidal because the victim blocked him.
The court heard McReynolds had travelled to Scotland to meet the victim but this had only made matters worse.
He travelled back a second time was arrested for threatening and abusive behaviour by Scottish police after locating where the victim worked.