Man inundated his ex-partner with WhatsApp and text messages, Lisburn court hears
A man has been sentenced to nine months in prison for assaulting police, breach of a restraining order, and improper use of comms to cause anxiety.
Stephen John Branagh, 40, whose address was given as Divis Street in Belfast, appeared before Lisburn Magistrates Court on Thursday, January 30 to face the charges.
The court heard that the injured party, the defendant’s ex-partner, had received numerous text messages and WhatsApp messages from the defendant.
It was stated that the injured party did not respond to the messages and blocked the defendant.
The injured party reported that she considered the messages to be harassing as they were unwanted and persistent in nature.
Defence told the court: “He didn’t process the death of his father, he was struggling with the business, and abusing alcohol. He hasn’t been in his right mind.
"He has been attending alcohol counselling. He is moving away from a dependence on alcohol and has completed 50 hours of a community service order.
"He has turned his life around.
“The bail conditions made it very difficult for him to see his children. He intends to report to work and he is desperate to reinstate contact with his children.
"He is taking all the help available to him. I would urge the court to give this man a chance. He is making great progress in addressing the triggers of his offending.”
During sentencing, District Judge Rosie Watters told the defendant: “I am displeased that despite doing some work you haven’t managed to stay out of trouble.”
On the charge of breaching a restraining order, Ms Watters imposed a custodial sentence of four months. She also put two suspended sentences into operation to run consecutively, which brought the custodial sentence to a total of nine months.
Ms Watters also imposed an offender’s levy of £25.
On the charges of assaulting police and improper use of comms to create anxiety, Ms Watters also imposed a custodial sentence of four months on each of the charges. In total, the defendant was sentenced to nine months in prison.
Ms Watters granted the defence leave to appeal the sentence but refused to release him pending appeal.