A publican who made dozens of nuisance phone calls to staff in State bodies has done the same to directory inquiry operators despite repeated court appearances over his behaviour.
John Crowe (52), Fortfield Drive, Terenure, Dublin, pleaded guilty in October 2001 to four sample charges of harassment by persistently phoning women in the Office of the Director of Equality Investigations, Leinster House and the Department of Justice.
The calls were over unhappiness with a decision made by the Office of Equality Investigations relating to himself.
Sentence had been adjourned a number of times since then to allow him to get anger management help and for reports, despite another such call to a Leinster House telephonist the day after he pleaded guilty.
In January this year Judge Catherine Murphy again adjourned sentence after hearing Crowe had made good progress.
But yesterday in Dublin District Court Det Garda Phillip Rowe said he had five new complaints from Eircom directory inquiry operators alleging that Crowe had made abusive calls to them between September and November last. He had also allegedly made calls to a woman in the Law Society who declined to make a formal complaint because the calls had stopped and she believed it would only encourage him.
At his original hearing his solicitor had said he did it because he had "a problem with bureaucracy". He would often not know who he was talking to and would become unintelligible as he ranted down the phone.
He has been attending psychiatrist Dr Anthony Clare and had made very good progress, despite the more recent calls.
Judge Murphy said she was very concerned that despite his anger management he had continued his behaviour and in breach of his bail terms. He was a man of means and it should be possible for him to delegate the need to use the telephone to someone else, she said.
His solicitor said he was already doing that and being assisted by his wife. He was prepared to step up his treatment with Dr Clare, who had said in a report that it was not possible to change the behaviour of a lifetime in a few months.
Judge Murphy said she was prepared to give another adjournment until January 14th to assess whether he was a continuing risk to the public.