Lurgan man who harassed his ex-girlfriend and her mother is jailed for four months at Craigavon court
A Co Armagh man who harassed his ex-girlfriend and her mother has been given a four month jail term.
Ian Cecil Alan Boal, aged 37, of No Fixed Abode, Lurgan appeared before Craigavon Magistrates Court via video link from Maghaberry Prison.
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He pleaded guilty to two charges of harassment.
His solicitor, Mr James Ballentine, said his client had perfected bail but was unable to get a suitable address and had been in custody since the offences on September 24, 2025.
The prosecutor said one of the victims came to the PSNI to complain about the ‘on-going’ harassment from her ex-partner, the defendant.
"She had been receiving constant text messages via WhatsApp from August 30 and on multiple occasions she requested the defendant stop messaging her. She blocked his phone and then received messages via a Revolut app and this continued after September 17,” said the prosecutor.
"She disclosed that during the relationship that Ian would control who she was allowed to see and the injured party’s mother also disclosed harassment from the defendant,” she said.
During police interview, his ‘rationale’ for the contact was he was the father of his ex-partner’s unborn child.
Mr Ballantine said his client’s behaviour was “very much out of character”. He said Boal has been in a relationship with one of the victims since June 2024 and it ended in September 2025.
Mr Ballantine said there were no threats nor anything of an obscene nature.
“It just seems to be the persistency of them,” he said, adding a child is to be born next year and his client was concerned about the baby.
He added it was “out of desperation he made these calls”.
“There was no harm intended,” Mr Ballantine said,adding his client accepts any future contact will have to be through solicitors/and / or social services.
"He accepts this relationship is finished,” said the solicitor, asking that the court take into consideration the difficulties the defendant was facing at the time and that he has served more than two months of real time in custody.
District Judge Michael Ranaghan noted Boal’s record contains no similar types of offending and sentenced him to four months in jail for each charge to run concurrently plus the £25 offender levy.
Two Restraining Orders were also imposed in relation to both victims.