You’re free to go... Coleraine woman who damaged her ex’s car, poisoned his plants and superglued his lock avoids prison term
A WOMAN who used a drill to damage her former fiance’s car before poisoning his plants and putting Superglue in his house door lock has avoided jail.
A judge told Anna Maguire that her actions were “appalling”, but because of her clear record and the fact there had been no repeat of the trouble he was suspending a five-month sentence for three years.
District Judge Liam McNally also ordered Maguire (56), a health worker of Glengorm Avenue, Coleraine, to pay an extra £500 compensation for “anguish and hurt” caused to her former partner Andy Farrer. She was also hit with a three-year restraining order.
A previous hearing was told Maguire arrived with a drill and caused such severe damage to the vehicle it was deemed too dangerous to drive by insurers and had to be written off.
Maguire carried out a campaign of harassment against Mr Farrer, from Portrush, and also Superglued a lock at his home and poisoned plants in his garden. CCTV cameras at Mr Farrer’s home snared Maguire entering his property, once in the middle of the night as he slept inside, and also blatantly in daylight when he was out at a charity event.
Mr Farrer claimed at the earlier court the campaign of harassment erupted after he ended his relationship with Maguire because she had an “affair”.
He had known her for eight years, been with her for four years, and was engaged to be married for two years.
Maguire struck at Mr Farrer’s Morrison Park home twice within five days in May last year.
He told the court Maguire got a drill and also targeted a car belonging to his new partner, who has sadly since died.
Maguire previously admitted causing criminal damage to Mr Farrer’s Peugeot 307, a house door lock and plants, and also pleaded guilty to a harassment charge.
She contested other charges of damaging a Peugeot 107 belonging to Mr Farrer’s partner and damaging his letterbox, as well as a charge of harassment relating to May last year but last month was convicted of the charges.
CCTV shown in court last month revealed that in the hours of darkness Maguire poured what Mr Farrer said was Superglue into his letterbox.
Five days later Mr Farrer and his partner were in Portrush, and when he returned home around 5pm he spotted flat tyres on both his and his partner’s vehicles.
He tried to put his key into the front door but couldn’t as it had been Superglued, and his “very distressed” partner had to climb through a bedroom window to let him in.
Mr Farrer scanned his CCTV and it showed that Maguire arrived in a car before Supergluing the water nozzles, door handles and diesel cap on his car.
She then pulled out “a drill” and punctured a tyre and used it on various parts of his car, and he said she seemed to try to drill into the fuel line and at one stage crawled under the vehicle. An emotional Mr Farrer said his late partner’s car was also targeted by the drill. He said garden plants were poisoned, and wilted three days later.
At Coleraine Magistrates Court yesterday a prosecutor said at the end of 2016 and into the start of this year Mr Farrer had received messages from Maguire which he found distressing, as his partner had recently died, and he told the defendant he did not want any contact with her.
Mr Farrer then received phone calls from a withheld number in the middle of the night and when he answered the line went quiet. The calls were traced to Maguire.
Mr Farrer was not present yesterday as Maguire was sentenced.
Defence solicitor Garrett Greene handed in four letters or reference for his client.
He said Maguire had a clear record and was an upstanding member of the community with 26 years of positive public service work behind her.
Mr Greene said the positive references showed the incidents were “out of character”.
He said there were mentions in a pre-sentence report of “some matters” in the background, but he said they did not offer an excuse for what the defendant did to Mr Farrer.
He said Maguire was remorseful and had already paid £300 to Mr Farrer to pay for his car insurance excess.
Mr Greene said the defendant’s relationship with Mr Farrer had “ended in difficult circumstances”.
He said Maguire had stained her reputation but would not be back before a court.
Judge McNally said the serious matters deserved five months in jail.
He told Maguire he was suspending the sentence for three years.
But he ordered her to pay an extra £500 compensation on top of the £300 she had already paid to Mr Farrer.