Man who changed ex's Facebook status to 'whore' found guilty of criminal damage | Mail Online
- Irish man fined £1,600 for offensive post on woman's account
- Posted status saying ex-partner was a 'whore' using her Facebook
- The 30-year-old admitted taking her phone after a confrontation in 2011
- First Irish prosecution for criminal damage to social media account
By Sara Malm
Published: 13:50 EST, 1 July 2014 | Updated: 15:33 EST, 1 July 2014
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An Irish man who posted an offensive status update using his former partner’s Facebook account has been fined £1,600.
The 30-year-old from Donegal used his ex-girlfriend’s account to post that she was a ‘whore' who would 'take any offers’, a court heard.
The man admitted to taking the woman’s phone and accessing her Facebook account after he had gone to her home to confront her over an alleged infidelity in June 2011.
Guilty: The 30-year-old from Donegal, Ireland was fined £1,600 after accessing his ex-girlfriend¿s Facebook account to post the offensive status
The man was arrested soon after the incident, when told police he had been upset over the woman’s new partner.
His defence lawyer Isobel Kennedy SC told the court the man regretted his actions but that he admitted that he had been drinking before it took place.
The man was charged under the Criminal Damage Act 1991, which imposes a maximum penalty of ten years in prison and a £8,000 fine.
Social media damage: The man admitted to posting as his ex, saying she was a 'whore', after visiting her home to confront her over an alleged infidelity three years ago
The man cannot be named for legal reasons, in order to protect his victim’s identity, as he was acquitted by a jury last month of raping and falsely imprisoning the woman in her home on the same date.
Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan called it ‘a reprehensible offence that seriously damaged the woman’s good name but said that “fortunately” the status was quickly spotted and taken down’, the Irish Mail reported.
This is the first prosecution for criminal damage to a social media account in Ireland.