A former Donegal County Councillor has been ordered to hand over all his phones to Gardai after being accused of harassing his former partner.
Former county councillor Gareth Reid
Gareth Reid, a former Fine Gael councillor, faces numerous charges including thirteen of domestic violence.
The 31 year old father-of-three appeared in court today after being detained in custody for a week after revoking his bail conditions.
Reid, of Lawnsdale, Ballybofey, faces numerous charges including domestic violence and criminal damage.
A previous court sitting heard claims that he had phoned the woman 30 times over one weekend.
The woman was so in fear of Reid that she has left Co Donegal and was living elsewhere.
Solicitor Kieran Dillon said a week in custody had had a major effect on his client.
“A week has passed and my client is a different person. He has had time to reflect in the past seven days and he has a different perspective on life.
“His employment is just there and if he is not back at work as a lorry driver it will have consequences. It is also a very special time of year and there will be consequences for that if he is not working,” said Mr Dillon.
However Garda Inspector Michael Harrison told the court that Gardai had no choice but to object to the granting of bail.
He also said he wanted an order to recover ALL of Reid’s phone and not just “a select one.”
Judge Paul Kelly replied “I take it that you suspect he has other phones?” to which he was told that was the suspicion.
Inspector Harrison said he had good reason to oppose bail.
“There is an injured party who constantly calls Gardai. If it was a one off we would not object (to bail.)
“There are court orders here and he just seems to ignore them. There are domestic violence charges – thirteen of them and two for criminal damage. He has failed to sign on up to ten times.
“He has pleaded guilty in the past and it’s not that he doesn’t know the consequences of what he is doing and he continues to breach the orders of the court. We just can’t consent to it,” he said
However Judge Paul Kelly agreed to release Reid on bail with a number of conditions.
They include having not contact with the injured party and that he hand over all his phones to Gardai.