Clare man pleads guilty to harassment after Facebook post falsely accusing men of trying to grab a 13-year-old girl

Irish Examiner

a day ago

One man fled Shannon in terror in his gym gear without his belongings while another man became a target of online hate and felt that there was a bounty on his head after they were both falsely identified as 'sick paedos' in a Facebook post, a court has heard.
At Ennis Circuit Court, the author of the 'malicious' Facebook post from November 2023, Martin Hannon, 43, of Tradaree Court, Shannon has pleaded guilty to a stalking offence from November 2 to 16, 2023, against the two innocent men.
In the post, Mr Hannon offered a €1,000 reward for information about the owners of two cars over what he claimed was an attempted abduction in Shannon of a 13-year-old girl known to him.
Reward, cable ties, and baseball bats
Counsel for the State, Sarah Jane Comerford said that on November 7, 2023, gardaí became aware of a Facebook post where Mr Hannon posted:
Lads, these are the sick paedos who tried to grab a 13 year old girl into a car yesterday evening along with other young girls.
He went on: 'If anyone sees these scum in Shannon or anywhere and if you can get me to them, then there is a €1,000 reward. Ye will be looked after by us." He added:
"Cable ties and baseball bats are at hand and if the gardaí have a problem with my post, then do something about it and be pro-active.'
Ms Comerford said that the post was accompanied by photos of cars and their registration plates along with a photo of the home of one of the men.
Ms Comerford said that both men became aware of the photos shared through their friends and work colleagues and immediately contacted the gardaí.
She said that the background to this began on November 2, 2023 when a mother and girl known to Mr Hannon attended at Shannon Garda Station to report that cars had passed the two and shouting from a car had put the girl in fear.
Ms Comerford said that the only description was that one car was white and one was black.
Facebook post accusing two innocent men
On the same day, the two innocent men — who did know each other — stopped at different times at a Texaco filling station in Shannon and one owned a black car and the other owned a white car.
Ms Comerford said that photos of the cars at the Texaco filling station were passed on to Hannon who posted the photos on his Facebook page where he labelled them as the men involved in the alleged attempted abduction incident calling them paedophiles and offering a reward of €1,000.
Garda Claire Burke agreed with Ms Comeford that this caused an outpouring on social media and people believed that these men were involved in this incident with the child.
Ms Comerford said that Mr Hannon gave an interview to a local newspaper, The Clare Echo that was titled 'Shannon man offers award of €1,000 to track down alleged abductors'.
In a victim impact statement read out in court by Garda Burke, one of the men falsely accused by Mr Hannon said that arising from what he described as Mr Hannon's 'malicious' actions, 'almost overnight I became a target of online hate and public suspicion'.
'Reward felt like a bounty on my head'
The man said that the reward 'only increased the sense of danger'. He said: "I was afraid to leave my home or to travel to work."
The man said that the false accusation 'turned my daily life into a waking nightmare'.
He said: 'This reward felt like a bounty on my head. I felt terrified not only for myself but for my family.' The man said that he 'was afraid to leave my home or to travel to work'. He said that he had to rely on friends to bring him food and essentials.
He said: 'I stayed off the streets, stayed off public transport and essentially locked myself in for weeks.'
At the time, the man — who is a native of a country in Asia, but was living in Limerick — said that his mother flew over here on November 24 to comfort him and a sibling he was sharing accommodation with.
The man said that when his mother encouraged him to go outside 'I felt panicked'.
He said that Mr Hannon's accusation 'was completely unfounded":
No such abduction ever took place but the consequences of his actions have had a profound and lasting effect on me and my family.
He said: "When I first learned about the accusation I was in complete shock. Seeing my photo and my car published online along with an appeal for information about me filled me with fear."
The man said that Mr Hannon's actions also had severe and lasting financial impact as he urgently sold the car that was posted on Mr Hannon's Facebook page for €2,000 and he had purchased it for €6,500 leaving a loss of €4,500.
He said that arising from Mr Hannon's Facebook post he was unable to attend work for a period 'and I lost time and money and progressional standing'. He said:
'To this day, I can't understand why this happened… I was an innocent person caught up in a situation I had absolutely nothing to do with.' He said that was 'deeply traumatised' where 'I was targeted, my safety was compromised and my peace of mind was taken away'.
The man from a Leinster county said: 'This is where I hid out for weeks, too scared to go back to my apprenticeship and work placement in Shannon and too scared to be seen anywhere in my car.
'I was terrified for myself and my family as my car is very identifiable.
I knew that many people recognised that it was me in the posts which made me very very isolated and wary in case anyone believed the accusation.
He added: 'I missed several weeks of work at a crucial time of my apprenticeship."
He said that with the support of gardaí he was able to return to his work in Shannon. He said: 'I will never forget how this man made me feel. Even though my parents reached out to him he did not seem to care about hearing the truth.'
Garda Burke said that Mr Hannon didn't know either party in the case, and that neither party knew each other.
Ms Comerford said: 'A common feature is that they simply both filled up their petrol tanks at the Texaco station on the same day that the alleged incident occurred concerning the child.'
Garda Burke said that Mr Hannon has no previous convictions.
Counsel for Mr Hannon, Aaron Desmond, said his client wishes to apologise to the two men.
When charged with the offences under new harassment legislation, Mr Hannon told gardaí 'I'm sorry about how this turned out, it wasn't my intention'.
Judge Francis Comerford has adjourned the case to the autumn for sentencing and Mr Hannon has been further remanded on bail.