A man who subjected his niece to a lengthy campaign of harassment including posting “sinister, lewd and depraved” messages on social media as well as threatening to burn her home down has been jailed for 10 years. William Phelan (57), a farmer from Paddock, Mountrath, Co Laois, pleaded guilty to two charges of persistently pestering his adult niece through phone calls, voice messages and posts on Facebook on dates between February 15th, 2023, and July 5th, 2023, contrary to Section 10 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act. Advertisement The court heard he had engaged in a series of “derogatory and sexual” posts on social media which became “unhinged” over time, as well as expressing a desire for wanting a sexual relationship with his niece.
However, his victim, who lives just 4.5km from her uncle, stressed that he had never raped or done anything of an inappropriate nature to her physically. Advertisement Judge Keenan Johnson said Phelan seemed infatuated with his niece but also got a kick out of, in the accused’s own words, “scaring the shit” out of her.
At an earlier hearing in the case at Portlaoise Circuit Criminal Court last month, the woman said she was not seeking her “pound of flesh” in coming to court but only wanting peace for herself and her family. Advertisement She said the accused had repeatedly ignored all advice and bail conditions about leaving her alone. On one occasion, she recalled being devastated after he called her on th.
