Echoes of The Field as poison-pen case opens
Man charged with sending hate mail to returned expat in a vicious Kerry row over access to land
A MAN has appeared in court accused of sending a grossly offensive letter to an expat neighbour, telling him to ‘f*** off back to the US’.
In a case that has drawn comparisons with John B. Keane’s play The Field, Alex Langan has been charged with sending the poisonpen letter, allegedly written following a row over access across a field in Tarbert, Co. Kerry.
He could face a fine and/or a possible prison term of up to 12 months under new hate-mail laws, if found guilty of the offence.
In July of last year, expat Mike McElligott, a native of Tarbert who had lived in New York for 30 years before returning home, told the Irish Mail On Sunday how he had become embroiled in a row with the local GAA club over a right of access to land on which Mr McElligott owns several properties.
He revealed how he had received a poison-pen letter on the subject.
Mr McElligott said: ‘This letter was sent to me and it said among other things, “F*** off back to the USA.” It also stated, “We don’t need a b **** x like you around. You will be hounded out, we do not want c***s like you around.” It was signed, “The people of Tarbert”.
‘There have been other letters as well, various complaints have been made about different things, it’s nasty,’ Mr McElligott said.
‘Look, Tarbert is a lovely village, it always was, it’s a great place to bring up a family, 99% of the people here are beautiful but I guess like every other village it has two or three that, for want of a better word, I would call begrudgers.’
‘They don’t like to see a local guy making good. I’m a hard-working guy still. I work 5.30am to 7pm, five or six days a week.
‘I have 20 people employed in my construction company and I supply accommodation for 26 others who live around Tarbert and spend their money there, but that doesn’t seem to matter.’
Mr Langan, of Tarbert Island, Tarbert, Co. Kerry, was charged at Listowel District Court on Thursday with sending an offensive letter to The Nest, Church Street, Tarbert, by post on a date between March 11 and March 15, 2016.
He has been charged under the new Postal Services Act, which sets out that a person commits an offence if he or she sends anything indecent, obscene or grossly offensive by post.
At the hearing, his lawyer asked for disclosure of Garda documents relating to the case.
The case was adjourned by Judge James O’Connor until October.
‘It said we don’t want a b **** x like you here’