A former Fianna Fáil councillor admitted being “a kind of stalker” while harassing a waitress at the restaurant where she worked in Cork city, a court has heard.
Joseph O’Donovan (50), formerly Gary O’Flynn, who served on Cork City Council from 2003 to 2008, returned to Cork District Court on Friday for sentencing after he previously pleaded guilty to harassing the 25-year-old woman on three occasions in July and August 2022.
Judge Mary Dorgan noted from a probation report that O’Donovan was assessed as being at a low risk of reoffending.
However, she said a victim-impact statement made for “compelling reading” with the defendant having told his victim he was “a kind of a stalker”.
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The court previously heard that O’Donovan went to a restaurant in Cork city centre on July 30th, 2022, where, while drinking wine, he flagged down the waitress, kissed her on the hand and told her she was “the nicest and prettiest girl he had ever seen”. She said this made her feel deeply uneasy.
He visited the restaurant again on August 1st, 2022, and asked to be served by the same woman. He again took her hand and kissed it. He breathed into her ear and said: “Meet me outside for a tip and I better get your phone number for it.”
O’Donovan went outside and started staring in. The waitress went out and told him he was not welcome and should leave. He then followed the woman inside and asked could he see her again. When he was asked to leave by management, he threw €50 at the waitress.
O’Donovan returned to the restaurant at about 10.30pm on August 6th, 2022, when the premises was near closing. The waitress again told him to leave and O’Donovan said he was sorry but could not help it.
O’Donovan, with an address at Melvindale House, Coolowen, Blarney, was arrested later that month and told gardaí he thought the young woman was very pretty and that he kissed her hand in a manner seen in movies. He claimed he had carried out the gesture out of politeness and courtesy.
The woman read her victim-impact statement at a previous court hearing, saying she had to wait three years to have her say in court and during that time she “never stopped looking over my shoulder when I heard steps behind me”.
“This man [O’Donovan] looked me in the eye and called himself a creep. This man looked me in the eyes and called himself a stalker, then laughed about it – laughter that still makes me recoil in fear to this day,” she said.
“That moment has never left me because in that moment I realised I wasn’t dealing with someone who didn’t understand boundaries, but someone who chose to violate them.”
She said O’Donovan appeared to feel that his desire outweighed her right to say no.
“He threw money around as if it gave him the right to harass me. His actions were not misunderstandings they were deliberate. He ignored every boundary and pushed further each time. It wasn’t harmless. It was obsessive and it left me terrified in places I used to feel safe.”
The judge said she had some concerns from the probation report including the fact that O’Donovan told the Probation Service he had been diagnosed as suffering from autism spectrum disorder but there was no confirmation of the diagnosis from his psychiatrist.
She also said she would also like some documentary confirmation that O’Donovan was taking steps to address his issues with alcohol.
O’Donovan’s solicitor, Frank Buttimer, said he would obtain both confirmations and the matter was put to December 4th for finalisation.
