A Waterford man has been sentenced to five years in prison for three counts of harassment against members of An Garda Síochána.
In Waterford Circuit Court this week, Judge Eugene O’Kelly sentenced Lee Hutchinson (40) to serve six years, with the last year suspended, for his actions.
Mr Hutchinson, of Coxtown West, Dunmore East, Co Waterford, carried out a “campaign of harassment” against three Gardaí officers.
Between May 1st, 2014, and September 21st, 2018, the former secondary school teacher sent handwritten anonymous letters containing spurious allegations about the officers to their families, colleagues and superiors. In 2014 he sent a letter to then Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan, in which he anonymously accused the officers of misconduct, ranging from sexual impropriety, drug use and corruption.
The claims of the letters were forwarded to Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC). The statutory body deemed the startling claims as “unfounded”.
Mr Hutchinson sent one letter directly to the wife of an officer in which he accused her husband of being corrupt, incompetent and unfaithful in their marriage, along with a litany of other unseemly acts. The letter was addressed to her place of work.
Another letter was sent to a school in Waterford, which "warned" the principal about an officer.
At that time, investigators came close to identifying Mr Hutchinson as the writer of the letters, after successfully tracing the stamp used on one of the received envelopes. Unfortunately, a broken CCTV camera prevented the successful identification of the culprit.
All letters were sent to Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) for DNA analysis and handwriting analysis.
During witness testimony, the court heard that Mr Hutchinson would talk at length about the gardaí and his contempt for them in local public houses in Dunmore East. One local publican and taxi driver refused to give him service because of his constant invective towards the Garda officers.
Each garda made a victim impact statement that painted a stark picture of the calamitous effects of Mr Hutchinson’s actions. One account described the emotional fallout of the harassment, and feeling constantly watched by an unknown person.
Defence counsel Gareth Hayden told the court that Mr Hutchinson had struggles with anxiety, depression and alcohol dependency. Mr Hayden said that his client was drunk when he wrote some of the letters. However, Judge O’Kelly questioned the validity of this claim due to the clarity of the letters.
The court heard how, despite being a qualified secondary school teacher, Mr Hutchinson had never been able to secure a permanent teaching post.
According to his defence, his actions came from an “idiosyncratic” urge to draw attention to crime in Dunmore East.
Mr Hayden said: “He doesn’t face a bright future and he only has himself to blame.”
In his summation, Judge O’Kelly described the acts as “vile, vexatious and extremely upsetting untruths”. He stressed the importance of people working on the front lines, whether they be gardaí, nurses, firefighters, etc, being able to work without being subjected to virulent harassment.
Judge O’Kelly expressed concern over the lack of an explicit apology or sense of remorse from the defendant. He also referred to the fact that Mr Hutchinson pleaded guilty four years after the book of evidence was served for the case.
He went on to sentence Mr Hutchinson to six years in prison, with one year suspended. Judge O’Kelly also order him not to contact any of the victims for 10 years.
