Man facing 11 harassment charges against 11 women gets bail despite Garda objections

Stephen Maguire

A man facing a number of charges including 11 counts of harassment towards 11 different women has been granted bail.

Francis Lynn came before Judge John Aylmer at Letterkenny Circuit Court in Co Donegal for a bail application.

Lynn, with an address in Manorhamilton in Co Leitrim, faces a total of fifteen charges.

The 42-year-old is charged with a total of 12 different counts of alleged harassment against a number of people on various dates between 2022 and 2023.

The charges are Contrary to Section 10(1) and (6) of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997 as amended by Section 10 of the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020.

He is also charged with sending a threatening or grossly offensive communication.

The charge is that Lynn, on June 21st, 2023 at Cavan Post Office, did send a threatening or grossly offensive communication to the new tenants of 9 Milltown Court, Kilmacrennan.

The charge is Contrary to Section 4(1) and (3) of the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020.”

Lynn is also charged that on a date unknown between June 17th, 2022 and July 14th, 2022, at an unknown location within the State did knowingly make a false report tending to show that an offence had been committed and tending to give rise to apprehension for the safety of a named child.

The charge is Contrary to Section 12(a) of the Criminal Law Act, 1976.

Detective Garda Darren Carter of Milford Garda Station said he was objecting to bail for the accused on a number of grounds.

Carter went into detail on the reasons for his objections to bail.

Carter said he had grave concerns that the accused would interfere with and intimidate witnesses in the cases and that included electronic communication or otherwise.

Barrister for the accused, Niamh Gaughan, said Lynn was a 42-year-old man who is registered as disabled and has a speech impediment.

She added that her client has no convictions for failing to appear.

She told Garda Carter that a "suite of conditions" could be put in place such as a €1,000 surety from his parents, that he reside at his address in Manorhamilton, that he stayed off social media, that he sign on daily at his local Garda station, that he provide a mobile phone number and that he stayed away from any injured parties.

She asked if it would allay his fears if all these conditions were put in place.

Carter replied that there were no conditions that would, due to the way Lynn has conducted himself.

He added that he respected the fact that Lynn's parents were prepared to put up the sum of €1,000 as a surety for their son and that he "had no doubt of their best intentions". However, he asked "would they be able to stop him is another matter entirely."

Summing up, Gaughan said the evidence given by Carter is what could be given but that no evidence had been given by any of the complainants of any of the charges against Lynn, adding that all charges will be contested.

She again suggested that Lynn was registered as disabled, but the judge said there was no medical evidence of this.

However, he said that based on submissions, the prosecution had not put forward sufficient evidence and that he was, with some hesitation, minded to grant bail subject to a number of stringent conditions.

The case was adjourned last week until Tuesday when Lynn's parents presented in court with a cash surety in the sum of €1,000.

The surety, which was provided by Lynn’s mother, was approved and the cash was lodged in court.

As well as the cash surety, Lynn was also ordered to obey a number of strict conditions imposed by the court.

Lynn must reside at an address in Manorhamilton and notify gardaí of any change of address.

Should gardaí call to the address, Lynn must present himself at the front door and he is to sign on at Manorhamilton Garda Station between 9am and 9pm every day.

Lynn was told to stay out of County Donegal save for court appearances and is to have no communication with or about, either directly or indirectly, through an account in any name, with any complainants, witnesses, investigating gardaí, their partners or families.

Any communication should be made only through Lynn’s solicitor.

Lynn was told to provide gardaí with a telephone number on which he is to be contactable at all times.

He is not to own or possess any other electronic device which enables internet access.

Lynn must surrender his passport and not apply for any new travel documents and was told to be of good character and commit no further offence.

The defendant was also told that he is not to use any form of VPN (virtual private network) or proxy server.

When asked if he understood the instructions, Lynn replied: “Yes, Judge”.

The judge said that bail would be issued on the terms handed down to Lynn.