A man who pleaded guilty to stalking a social media influencer on a night out in Dublin last March has been referred to the probation services pending sentence.
Denis Morris (23) of Braemor Road, Churchtown, Dublin appeared before Judge Treasa Kelly charged in relation to the incident where he followed the young woman from outside Copper Faced Jack’s onto the 5th floor of the Ivegah Garden Hotel where she was staying.
Detective Garda Eamon Teen gave evidence of how the accused was traced using “extensive” CCTV footage of Dublin 6 and 8, as well as taxi records of FreeNow passengers on the night.
CCTV of the incident showed the accused coming up behind the victim, who was wearing light blue jeans, a white tank top, and white heels, as she stood outside the hotel before she turned to look at him for a moment before he walked away.
The footage showed Morris then coming back towards the victim and following her across the road, into the hotel lobby, into the lift, and onto the 5th floor.
There he overtook her before walking ahead and exiting the hotel via the emergency stairwell back onto Harcourt Street.
Detective Leen said that when the accused was interviewed he did not give a full account of what happened and said that he had thought that the victim was his girlfriend, who the court said he had had a fight with.
The defending counsel of the accused said that her client “had been drinking excessively” on the night and was “highly intoxicated”, which Detective Leen did not accept was “clear” from the footage.
Car said Morris’ actions on the night were “reckless” and that he had accepted that he had put the victim “in fear”.
He has lost his job as a result of the incident, she said.
Victim Impact Statement
The victim said that prior to the incident she had been “working really hard” on her “confidence” and “becoming a role model” and that she had got to a place where she was “proud” of herself, but all this had “changed in a single night”.
She said the incident, “changed how I feel about safety, people, and myself ” and that she “was having so much fun” out with her friends and at an event she had attended where she had been gifted the outfit she was wearing at the time, describing how this “happy proud moment” was “stripped” from her.
Through tears, she said, “I still blame myself for not being extra aware,” she said, adding that she wondered if she had worn a jacket or “shown less skin” if he would have “followed” her.
“I don’t feel safe walking into my apartment anymore,” she said, adding, “I don’t want to share a lift with strangers,” and how she now brings a friend or her mother if she has to stay out overnight, and that she “used to love travelling alone,”.
She said that she now turns down events in Dublin which has let to her “losing out on revenue” and “opportunities as a creator”.
She deserved how she was “prepared to be hurt” when Morris got in the life with her, and how she had began recording on her phone so her family would “know what happened to me,”.
The victim described having to “put on a brave face for the public ” and how the incident “doesn’t just affect one night, but forever.”
She expressed, “Hope justice will be served so I can finally move on”.
Reading section 10.2 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, Judge Kelly described how the law sets out that the offence is one of causing someone to “fear violence will be used against them” or another person by way of following them without excuse.
Judge Kelly said that the gave her statement “very well” and that Morris’ actions had caused her “immense fear” and had a “quite serious effect on her life” which “knocked her back”.
“It is a serious matter and I have to take it seriously,” she said before remanding Morris on continuing bail for the preparation of a probation report and that he engage in restorative justice.
She suggested that he “hold off” on handing a letter of remorse to the victim, and that he might consider some financial compensation.
The case was adjourned to the 23rd of February next for sentencing.