Politician told his children would be 'sterilised' in harassment campaign against him
Case Relieved A Gareth In The That Micheál “disappointed” Stronger But Case His He Taken Chaney/collins By Senator Is Picture: Judge The Line That Concluded Carrigy Said Is Is He Was Not
A Fine Gael politician has criticised the judicial system, and says the sentence down handed to a man who harassed him did not go far enough.
Longford-based Senator Micheál Carrigy plans to discuss with Justice Minister Helen McEntee the experience he had navigating the courts system — which he claims is not putting victims front and centre.
On Tuesday, Judge Bernadette Owens handed down a five-month prison sentence which was suspended for a period of 18 months to David Larkin, aged 43, with an address at 33 Ardnacassa Lawns, Longford. Larkin pleaded guilty last year to harassment of Senator Carrigy on various dates between December 20, 2021, and February 14, 2022.
Mr Carrigy said he had been harassed via social media and had also received text messages and a voicemail. He said Larkin “put on a deep voice” and the voicemail left on his phone said his children would be “sterilised”.
Mr Carrigy said: “That was the real drive for me at the time to push the case and keep at it until I got to a conclusion.
“You crossed a line to even mention them never mind put something verbally to me that he was going to do and no parent should accept it,” he said.
At an earlier sitting, the court heard the messages sent by Larkin included threats to the senator’s home.
“All you scumbag politicians scrambling for the door, now that Boris has s*** himself and caved into the people before he’s f***** out of office and publicly hanged for his crimes,” one message read.
“That’s what you have to look forward bro. You’re going down just like the rest of the scum. Don’t think you’ll escape Micheal, your time is soon up, enjoy it.”
Another read: “The mothers, the fathers, they ain’t gonna wait for no international court case.
“They’re just gonna ram your front door and tear all you politicians apart in your house.
Mr Carrigy said he has spoken to numerous people who feel they have been forced to “relive trauma” of their experiences and the judicial system is focusing “more on those who are accused rather than the victim.”
He said: “Cases are being strung out too long in the system particularly in a case where someone pleaded guilty.
“I’ve had to explain to them [his children] every time I was going to court what I was going to do and particularly my eldest son was asking when this would be all over and how do you explain that to a child? Because I couldn’t. It should have been over but it wasn’t.
“I just told him he [Larkin] said bad things and that Daddy was going to court to make sure he doesn’t do it again. But I said that many times and I had to explain it in case he heard something in school. That shouldn’t have to be the case, it didn’t need to be dragged out but it was,” Mr Carrigy said.
Mr Carrigy said a lot of people would “think twice” about taking their case to the courts or report crime because of the way cases are dealt with. He said he had the “height of praise” for gardaí who handled his case and they should be out policing on streets rather than “stuck in courtrooms” which he said also frustrated them.
Mr Carrigy also called on social media companies like X, formerly Twitter to put procedures in place to stop harassment online. He said there are “hundreds of thousands” of fake accounts targeting people and its incumbent on the platforms to take responsibility to control that.
The Fine Gael senator said he would be consulting with his party colleague, Ms McEntee about his case.
“There are a lot more serious cases and we need people to come forward knowing they will be supported by the gardai — which they are — but when you get to the court system as a victim you should know that the support is there for you too.
“We've appointed more judges to try and clear cases but why are we keeping cases in the system, causing undue stress on a lot of victims, constantly bringing them back into court instead of dealing with the case especially for someone who pleads guilty?”
Mr Carrigy said he is relieved that the case is concluded but he is “disappointed” that a stronger line was not taken by the judge in his case. He said the sentencing handed down to Larkin was “quite light given the circumstances” where his children were threatened.
“If you’re a good boy for 18 months, you’ll get away with it, that’s what it means,” he said about Larkin’s sentence.