A 74-year-old woman has been found guilty in Tralee court, of harassing a man by calling his phone on a near-daily basis over five months.
A jury at Tralee Circuit Court found Kate Burgess, of Park Lane Apartments, Tralee, guilty of harassing the man after just 28 minutes of deliberations.
The jury was told Ms Burgess made around 150 calls to the man’s phone between February and July in 2023, but the man never answered her calls nor never called her back.
The victim in the case told the court he bought Ms Burgess and a friend a drink on a night out 35 years ago, and he cannot get rid of her since.
Between February and July 2023, Ms Burgess made around 150 calls to the man’s phone, on a near-daily basis, sometimes multiple times a day, and at all hours.
The man never answered her calls, nor called her back, and any time he blocked her number, she would find another phone to call from.
On advice from gardaí, he began taking notes of the times she called and what she said when she would leave voicemails; the man read from this detailed copybook in court.
She said things like, “Goodnight, I love you”, “Hello darling”, and, “I’m sorry we missed our dinner date”.
She also left voicemails which the man described as her rambling about sausages, cigarettes, and on one occasion sang, “Glory, glory hallelujah” down the phone.
Ms Burgess admitted to gardaí she made most of the phone calls, but she denied harassment, claiming she thought she was helping him.
The man would also receive calls from hotels and taxis, after Ms Burgess had given them his number and claimed he had paid for her hotel room or taxi fare.
He gave evidence that he had to move house over the harassment.
Ms Burgess, who has been in and out of homelessness, was represented by barrister Katie O’Connell, instructed by solicitor Eimear Griffin from the office of Pádraig O’Connell.
Ms O’Connell told the jury her client just wanted friendship, but she probably should have just called a charity.
The jury took just 28 minutes deliberating before reaching a unanimous guilty verdict.
Ms Burgess was remanded in custody to Tuesday for sentencing.
