Teen girl sent ‘obscene' letter by ex's dad now targeted by his supporters online
Teenager says she suffers paralysing anxiety since receiving nasty missive in post
A Leaving Cert student who was sent an 'obscene and abusive' letter by this 50-year-old father-of-five is now the subject of a vicious online campaign waged by his supporters.
Carl Moran, from Upton, Kilmuckridge, Gorey, Co Wexford, received a suspended eight-month sentence last week after he pleaded guilty to sending the anonymous and hateful letter to the then 17-year-old girl.
The court heard how CCTV captured images of Moran posting the letter from Wells post office in Wexford on May 23, 2024.
At the sitting, Moran — who is the father of his victim's ex-boyfriend — accepted full responsibility for the letter, although he denied writing it, apologised for what he'd done and handed over €500 in compensation.
But instead of this being the end of the matter for his innocent victim, the case has sparked a series of horrific and unfounded online attacks against her and her family.
'I thought it [the court case] would be the end of it, but it just fired it up all over again,' his sixth-year student victim told the Sunday World.
'What he did is all there in black and white.
'I just can't understand how people can defend someone when there's a court report up stating exactly what happened.
'A court is not going to believe lies or take anyone's side.
'The judge saw the letter that he sent to me and here there is CCTV of him posting the letter.
'What more do people need?'
The victim's name was typed on the envelope
Among the shocking messages posted in response to a report on the case in the Gorey Guardian, was one stating: 'Carl is nothing but a gentleman who is full-time carer to his wife … People should know how twisted these [the girl's family] are. Absolute disgrace. If it was a dog, you would put it down.'
Another stated: 'Carl is a gent and I'm horrified by how easily this story is attempting to damage his name. Yes, this other family would seem to have friends in high places with the ability to abuse power.'
And another reads: 'The family and girl involved should be ashamed of themselves. Carl is a gentleman and has been hung out to dry.'
Other messages that have appeared online this week include one saying 'they [victim's family] should be run out of town'.
But following the series of vile taunts, the girl's mother hit back: 'Shame on these people. My daughter has already been through enough.
'Do these people not know children have taken their own lives over less?'
Carl Moran was seen on CCTV posting the letter
Outlining the background to the case, Moran's distraught victim said she had been going out with a teenage son of her attacker until their break-up, about six months before she received the letter.
'It ended not too bad,' she said.
'But then some untrue rumours went round about why we broke up.
'I'd nothing to do with those rumours, nothing at all.
'I told him [her ex-boyfriend] I was sorry it was happening but it was nothing to do with me.
'It was all cleared up and we were civil with each other.'
'That happened in December — and then I got the letter the following May.'
Recalling the circumstances in which the letter arrived at her family's home, the girl said her brother had been the one to pick it up.
'It had a normal stamp on it but it was Pritt-Sticked shut and my name was typed on the front of it,' she recalled.
Carl Moran pleaded guilty to sending the anonymous letter
News in 90 Seconds - May 13th
'It didn't look right so my brother hid it and rang my mum.'
The girl's mother said when she got home, her son handed her a pair of gloves and told her to read the letter.
'I did,' she said, 'And I was like: 'Woah!'
'My first thought was some girl in the school was upset with my daughter and they were behind this.
'But what was in it was so sick and horrible, I knew I had to go to the Guards.'
The girl's mum said she subsequently handed the letter over to the local gardaí.
At Moran's sentencing hearing, Detective Garda Paul Hayes said the Post Office Investigations Team traced the letter to Wells Post Office.
Gardaí then went to the post office, where CCTV footage was viewed which clearly showed Carl Moran posting the letter.
The letter itself, the woman explained, contained a printed reproduction of a vile WhatsApp message targeting her daughter – designed to appear as if it had been shared many times.
'It was done to make it look like it had been shared round – that people had seen it,' the girl said.
'It was done that way to make me afraid.'
A few days after the girl's mother handed the letter over to gardaí, an officer called to let her know CCTV had been obtained of the culprit.
'He said it was a male in his 50s and they identified the car he was driving.
'Then I knew,' the woman continued. 'It was Carl Moran.
'A man our family had offered support to while his wife was very ill.
'This was the father of a boy my daughter had gone out with.
'I felt sick to the pit of my stomach.'
Moran's victim said she was ostracised when it emerged she and her family had gone to the guards.
She said she was called 'a rat' in school and students she had known since playschool turned their backs on her.
'I just thought when people read about the case and realised what he had done, they'd say: 'Oh, we didn't realise, we're sorry'.
'But it's not been like that at all.
'If anything, it's gotten worse.
'But I'm glad I stood up because I didn't do anything wrong.
'He's a 50-year-old man who did this to a teenage girl.
'I'm not the one who is in the wrong here.'
A victim impact statement written by the teenager was read out in court.
In it, she wrote: 'This incident has not only impacted me but my family as well. I have lost all my friends, and my parents have lost close friends too.
'I have lost countless nights' sleep and lost countless days off school as I am terrified of this person. The days I am told are the best days of your life have been ruined.
'The fear and anxiety caused by this have been paralysing. I haven't been myself since this started and it will affect my relationships with friends for a very long time.
'I am very upset, my little brother found this letter and the people I love most had to read such cruel things about me.
'I hope one day he [Moran] will be able to realise the pain and loss caused and realise the wrong in what he has done.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sunday World
3 hours ago
- Sunday World
Multi-million euro operation to clean illegal dump starts after decades of complaints
Illegal dump in residential area is finally being cleaned up... 19 YEARS after locals complained about the dangerous eyesore close to their homes The illegal dump was situated just metres from people's houses The illegal dump was situated just metres from people's houses The illegal dump was situated just metres from people's houses A digger at the site at Belcamp in Dublin A multi-million euro operation to clean up a huge illegal dump just metres from the homes of disgusted residents has started after decades of complaints. In 2012, the Sunday World highlighted how criminal gangs were suspected of being behind the waste collection racket making millions from the site at Darndale in north Dublin. Photographs taken from a helicopter at the time show the huge scale of the dump, which continued to mount for years afterwards. Local resident and campaigner Annette Flanagan this week said people had been complaining to Dublin City Council for 19 years, but little action had been taken. Contractors moved in to begin work on the site on April 29, finally starting the long-awaited clean-up. A council spokesperson said the operation is expected to cost between €6 million and €8 million and there are no plans for action against anyone responsible for it. Annette told the Sunday World: 'I've fought this for 19 years and no-one cared. Every single week it should have been in the papers, it should have been on the radio.' 'Nobody had our back around here, not one person, no TDs, 19 years I'm fighting this. 'DCC is our landlord at the end of the day, and we should never have been living metres from an illegal landfill. 'There's a lot of people, an awful lot of people, who died around here, we can't prove that it's anything to do with the landfill. We'll never prove that,' she added. 'The people that died had lung cancer, breast cancer and DCC did not give two s***s. They just kept constantly kicking that can down the road, they didn't care.' The turning point came when an environmental solicitor at Community Law & Mediation launched a legal bid to force the council to take action. 'We had to live around here and live beside that, which was embarrassing, disgusting — fires every night,' said Annette. The illegal dump near Belcamp in Coolock, Dublin Today's News in 90 Seconds - 08 June 2025 'At the end of the day, I blame DCC for the whole lot of it. 'Eventually I was taking them to court, but on the 29th of April, all of a sudden, they got started.' Annette said the important thing now is to get moving on putting out tenders to redevelop the site and not wait another 19 years. Residents have suggested the council should build facilities such as a sensory garden, allotments, an all-weather pitch and a playground. 'It was a long fight to get it done, let me tell you, for the people around here. People were just so depressed. To look out your door every morning or your window and look at seven stories high is a holy disgrace,' said Annette. 'It's getting done now, but it should have never happened.' There are concerns about what might be unearthed from industrial and household waste. Community Law & Mediation welcomed the start of work to remove the landfill, which was a 'serious health and environmental hazard.' 'We remain prepared to take further action as necessary to ensure that the site is fully and safely cleared and that the community's rights are protected,' said a spokesperson. Asbestos has previously been found at the dump, which is estimated to hold 40,000 tons of commercial and domestic waste and is infested with rats. The clean-up operation is expected to take up to four months.
Sunday World
7 hours ago
- Sunday World
Murdered Scottish gangsters linked to Kinahan Cartel's €157m cocaine shipment
Fears that double killing could signal Irish gangsters' involvement in new mob war The pair, who were shot dead in an attack at Monaghan's pub in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol eight days ago, were key figures in the Glasgow-based Lyons crime gang. Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party MSP and former crime journalist Russell Findlay yesterday told the Sunday World a major concern for Stephen Lyons at this moment is whether the Kinahans may have, in fact, sanctioned the hit. The scene at Monaghan's pub in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol where Eddie Lyons Jnr and Ross Monaghan were gunned down . 'We already know the Kinahans' involvement in the Scottish drug trade is significant,' he said. 'Their connections with the Lyons have fuelled gangland violence in Scotland and escalated it over the years. 'In the paranoid world of organised crime, there is a lot of smoke and mirrors, a lot of speculation, but what I suppose this boils down to, is either the Kinahans have had a hand in these murders due to some unknown internal fallout or they have seen two of their allies gunned down in cold blood. 'If it is the latter, then the expectation would be there will be some kind of retribution. 'If I was in Stephen Lyons' shoes, living my luxury air-conditioned lifestyle in Dubai, I would be seeking a meeting with the Kinahans at the earliest possible opportunity to work out who has been responsible for this. Gangsters Eddie Lyons Jnr 'But the real fear now is this will only fuel gangland violence, not just in Spain, but also in the streets of Scotland.' In the immediate aftermath of the double assassination at Monaghan's bar, speculation immediately connected the killings to a feud between the Lyons and the rival Daniel gang in Scotland. An escalation in that feud has resulted in assaults, shootings and fire-bombings across Glasgow and Edinburgh in recent months. Cartel boss Daniel Kinahan Today's News in 90 Seconds - 08 June 2025 However, a Lyons family member subsequently discounted this theory, while a statement by Police Scotland said there is 'nothing to suggest that the shooting in Fuengirola was planned from within Scotland'. Spanish police are instead understood to be focussed on the likelihood the murders are linked to wider gangland tensions – and are making inquiries to determine what if any stance the Kinahans had taken on the killings. Ross Monaghan Lyons (46), and Monaghan (43) died when a gunman opened fire on them in the Fuengirola bar – where the pair had watched the Champions League final, at about 11pm on the night of the killings. The gunman then fled the scene in a car. Sources say the Daniel gang had shied away from making any moves against the Lyons in Spain due to their connections with the Kinahan mob and believe it unlikely their attitude would have changed sufficiently for involvement in the double killing likely. Outlining the background to the Kinahan's alliance with the Lyons and the effect this had on their feud with the Daniel gang, our source referred to a triple shooting in Scotland that occurred at an MOT station in the Lambhill area of the city in 2006. In that shooting, Stephen Lyons was badly wounded, as was his associate Robert Pickett, while Stephen's cousin Michael Lyons was shot dead. A source said: 'Going way back, there was a triple shooting in Glasgow at an MOT station, Stephen was shot, his cousin Michael was murdered, and a third man Pickett was shot. 'That resulted in Stephen fleeing to Spain. And it was that, fleeing to Spain, that was either the catalyst for the Kinahan connection being made or that made it bigger than it had already been. Russell Findlay 'At that point, some Daniel gang-related associate was in the Costa del Sol and ascertained the Lyons were close to the Kinahans and took the view that they could not make a move on them in Spain. 'They could not make a move against Stephen in Spain. 'So, if the Daniel gang took the view that was too big a move or that the backlash would be too big back then, it would be consistent with them not having the wherewithal to do it now.' The source said Stephen Lyons is the only member remaining out of the youth gang from which he, Michael and Eddie Jnr emerged. 'The rest are either dead or in prison,' he said. Asked if Stephen Lyons has anything to fear from his long-term allies, the Kinahans, the source responded: 'These people have absolutely no qualms about putting a knife between the shoulder blades of their best friends if it suits them. 'There's no loyalty and there's a paranoia that envelopes everything they do. So, it would be premature to assume the Kinahans are on a war footing over this to avenge the Lyons murders when for all we know they could have been responsible for it.' In their statement released on Tuesday, Police Scotland said they were not directly investigating the double murder. Instead they said: 'The investigation into the fatal shootings in Fuengirola is being carried out by Spanish police,' it said. 'Police Scotland is supporting Spanish police where requested; however at this time we have no officers deployed within Spain. 'There is currently no intelligence to suggest the deaths of these two men in Spain are linked to the recent criminal attacks in Scotland being investigated as part of Operation Portaledge. 'Any misinformation or speculation linking the events in Spain are not helpful to the ongoing investigations in either country. '
Extra.ie
7 hours ago
- Extra.ie
Plumbers' exam springs a leak as apprentices share questions
A state exam for plumbers was leaked, complete with answers, and widely circulated online just days before apprentices sat the test, has learned. Solas, the agency that took over State apprenticeships from Fás in 2013, expressed 'great concern' about the leak and said it is 'taking this matter very seriously'. However, a union for tradespeople this weekend said there are 'a lot of questions about the delivery of apprenticeships and standard of quality assurance' from Solas. An apprentice plumber who sat the leaked test in March told 'This is a QQI Level 6 exam – a State exam higher than the Leaving Cert – and we had questions and answers going in.' He said he was aware of the paper being shared before the exam in WhatsApp groups in at least four technological universities, where the courses are delivered, nationwide. He said he was aware of the paper being shared before the exam in WhatsApp groups in at least four technological universities, where the courses are delivered, nationwide. Pic: DenPhotos/Shutterstock 'There were lads in the class who did not turn up [for classes during the year], did not know the content, and they were getting merits and distinctions, and now they're going out into the world and plumbing,' he said. 'If you put a valve on an uncontrolled heat source, that's a bomb. Pressure builds, it explodes. People have been killed in Ireland in recent years with that. 'If you pipe gas wrong, that can lead to explosions, death. Carbon monoxide, [that can lead to] death.' The apprentice said the exact same theory exam – the final of three taken along with four 'on the job' tests for plumbing – had been used for the previous group, and that lecturers had already 'been complaining' at how 'easy' the papers are. 'The exact words were, 'A monkey would have passed the last one',' he said. 'There were three thick folders of notes, and they prepared us as best they could, covered the entire syllabus, only for the same exam to come up again, word for word. Then a few days before the exam, we got a leaked copy. 'I worked my a**e off. I spent 11 weeks studying, and then there was no need.' Asked if it was aware of the leak, Solas told 'We note this and the details from your query with great concern and are taking this matter very seriously.' Pic: Shutterstock The spokeswoman confirmed 224 people took the two-part exam on the same days in March as the apprentice who spoke to Asked what the pass rate for the exam was, and if the agency has safety concerns about potentially unskilled plumbers passing the leaked exam, the spokeswoman said: 'We are examining the matters raised in your query. Craft apprentices undergo continuous and multiple practical and written assessments throughout the seven phases of their apprenticeship to ensure that they are competent, working safely in the workplace and that their skills levels are up to date and in line with industry standards.' Assistant general secretary with Connect trade union, Brian Nolan, said he was aware of 'accusations of things that compromise the standard', including exam papers being posted on social media. He told the 'In our opinion, there's a lot of questions about the delivery of apprenticeships and the standard of quality assurance, off the job and on the job. 'We represent the workerlearners in the apprenticeships. We taught apprentices before we ever had Fás or AnCO [An Chomhairle Oiliúna, which oversaw apprenticeships until 1987]. We taught them in the workplace. 'And there's a fear here that as quality assurance is slipping, you could have these exam issues.' Mr Nolan said the course was also in danger of 'being led as academic and not vocational'. Pic: Getty Images He said he 'recently raised' the union's concerns about the exams to the Department of Higher Education. Solas said that in March, 'eight different phase 6 plumbing apprenticeship assessments were delivered, each of which was drawn from a range of different papers'. It added: 'Solas is working with its partners in the Technological Universities to identify if the assessment paper you had provided was one of the assessments delivered and if this was the case, we will agree the urgent actions needed to ensure the integrity of the assessment process.' Solas said new apprenticeship curricula 'are being implemented across all craft apprenticeship programmes' this year. 'Alongside this, new question banks for assessments are being developed and rolled out across the system. This is part of our ongoing efforts to enhance the quality and integrity of our apprenticeship programmes and ensure that they meet the highest standards,' it said. The apprentice who spoke to said plenty of apprentices fail their practical exams 'if they aren't up to scratch'. He said: 'It's not that people are just being slapped through. Lecturers are trying their best to train the next generation. 'And it's also not a plumbing issue alone – it's across all the trades. I know there was an audit into some of the electrical papers being leaked [in his institute].' There are 29,347 apprentices across 77 different Solas apprenticeship programme types.
