Former teacher convicted of ‘poison pen campaign’ against three gardai

A former teacher from County Waterford who carried out a four-year poison pen campaign against three gardaí has ​​been re-sentenced The Court of Appeal found that the Circuit Court was misinformed about the maximum available sentence.

By blaming Lee Hutchinson, Madam Judge Isobel Kennedy structured consecutive sentences with a part suspended, which means that appellant wI am still serving a five-year prison sentence as previously ordered.

Hutchinson, 41 years old, out Coxtown West, Dunmore East, Co Waterford, was originally sentenced by Judge Eugene O’Kelly of Waterford Circuit Court to six years in prison, with the final year suspended, for what was described as a “campaign of intimidation” against Three Gardaí.

Between May 1, 2014 and September 21, 2018, the former high school teacher sent anonymous handwritten letters containing false accusations about the officers to their families, colleagues and superiors.

In 2014 he sent a letter to Than Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan, anonymously accusing officers of misconduct ranging from sexual impropriety, drug use and corruption.

Hutchinson sent one letter directly to an officer’s wife accusing her husband of being corrupt, incompetent and unfaithful in their marriage, along with a litany of other inappropriate acts. The letter was addressed to her workplace.

This Monday he will appeal against the prison sentence to the Court of Appeal. Dfence advice Gareth Hayden BL said the main penalty imposed was more than the maximum available, as it should have been in the middle of severity.

Madam Judge Isobel Kennedy pointed out that the crime took place over four years and involved three gardaí, with one particularly disturbing incident where the wife of a garda at work found a letter on her desk stating that contained threats and an unpleasant reference to her children. She said the perpetrator might have done that guaranteed consecutive sentences.

Mr Judge Patrick McCarthy said another aggravating factor was that the victims were gardaí, whose job is to enforce the law and protect all members of society, with the perpetrator putting “very significant pressure” on them.

Mr Hayden responded that the appellant had taken one action against three people and a wider circle of people involved, whereby Madam Judge Kennedy said that since there were three victims, that could on its own deposit consecutive sentences. He suggested that the perpetrator was more likely to belong in the middle class, with a sentence of somewhere around three to four additional years appropriate.

Counsel for the DPP, Caroline Latham BL, said while the appellant had entered a guilty plea, a psychiatric report had been submitted indicated that he had spoken about the difference between a legal wrong and a moral wrong, and thus had not accepted that he had committed a moral wrong. She also said there was no apology of any kind that showed his remorse.

When issuing the court’s judgment, Madam Judge Kennedy said the appellant “had waged a campaign of intimidation”, but she ruled that the sentencing judge was misinformed that ten years was the term maximum sentence when in fact it was seven years, so this composed a fundamental mistake.

She quashed the original sentence and proceeded to reimpose a sentence. She said the offense was in the mid-range rather than high range as the harassment was not persistent or daily and no individual had been followed during the offence..

However, she described the offense as “malicious, false and untrue allegations”, with the three victims targeting members of the gardaí. The attacks on the Gardaí’s family members were deeply disturbing, she added, and there was no doubt that the damage caused was of significant seriousness as the impact extended beyond the immediate victims.

Imposing a main sentence of four years per charge, after mitigation Madam Judge Kennedy reduced this to three years each, but as there were three separate victims she ruled that the sentences should be consecutive.

Further reduction of sentences from three years to two years and four months per charge, Madam Judge Kennedy said this amounted to a total of seven years in prison, with the last two years suspended for two years.