“I’ll finish you!” Longford man sentenced for campaign of harassment against solicitor

A Longford man will serve one year in prison for the year-long campaign of harassment he waged against a solicitor, during which he engaged in intimidating behaviour such as road rage, roaring abuse at her in public, banging his fists on the bonnet of her car, telling her he would “finish her”, and making false allegations that she was killing children.  

54-year-old Patrick Cassidy of Dromard, Moyne, who has 6 previous convictions, had pleaded guilty at Longford Circuit Court last week to having harassed solicitor Pauline Brady between January 1, 2024, and January 7, 2025.  

Taking to the stand at the sentence hearing on Friday Feb 13, Garda Shaun Harrison of Longford Garda Station confirmed for the court that he had been on duty on April 18 2024 when Ms Brady, attended the station to make a formal complaint regarding Mr Cassidy and “the vendetta he had developed against her” after she represented a person known to him. 

Patrick Cassidy attempting to avoid the press outside Longford Courthouse

Ms Brady’s decision to make a formal complaint came following a terrifying road rage ordeal which occurred while she was driving from Lanesboro to Longford on April 18 2024.  

As Ms Brady drove up behind a car, the driver suddenly and without warning slammed on his brakes (also known as brake checking), leaving Ms Brady with no option but to brake hard in order to avoid crashing into the car in front.

It was only when the driver let down their window and began sticking out their hand to give her the middle finger gesture that she realised the driver was Patrick Cassidy, who had roared abuse at her at Roscommon Courthouse just a short time earlier. In an attempt to avoid an escalation of events, Ms Brady went to overtake him but was prevented from doing so when the accused swerved out in front of her car. This happened twice during the incident.

Eventually, both cars came to a halt on the road with Mr Cassidy leaving his vehicle and banging his hands on the bonnet, cajoling her to hit him with her car. Instead, Ms Brady exited her car and went to record him.

Patrick Cassidy continued to verbally abuse the solicitor, telling her, “I’ll finish you!” 

Patrick Cassidy about to leave Longford Courthouse before returning back inside to avoid being seen by press

This incident was one of a number of specific incidents of harassment over the course of a year that were recalled in court. You can read a full account  of these in next week’s Longford Leader. 

One of the incidents, which left Ms Brady “feeling ill" and "shaken” occurred on Christmas Eve. While in Longford town, Ms Brady heard shouting and realised it was Mr Cassidy. He made a gesture with his hand, “drawing his middle finger across his face in a sawing motion”. She immediately cancelled her plans for that day and returned home, feeling ill and shaken at what had happened.  

In her victim impact statement, Ms Brady explained she had tolerated the personal abuse, threats and aggression from Patrick Cassidy “in the vain hope he would see sense at some point, desist and move on”.

She said it was when her life and that of other road users were put in danger on a public road that she decided to make a formal complaint.  

Such was the extent of Mr Cassidy’s campaign of harassment against her that for several months Ms Brady would not leave her office at lunch in order to avoid further confrontation with him.

She was also forced to bolster her personal security by upgrading her home CCTV cameras and ensuring not to park in the dark alleyways by her office. 

Representing Patrick Cassidy was Senior Counsel Diane Stuart who presented to the court a reference for Mr Cassidy that had been submitted by the CEO of the Longford Community Resources Centre, where he was employed as a supervisor. 

Said Ms Stuart SC of the reference, “The letter is dated Feb 11 and I can tell the court that the author of that letter is fully aware of the proceedings that are before the court today.”

She then added, “Another reference was submitted by Mr Cassidy’s cousin. She’s a lady who has her own business. I have the only copy of that letter so I will hand that into the court now. She speaks highly of Mr Cassidy and again she is fully aware of the proceedings before this court today.”

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Ms Stuart told the court that her client Mr Cassidy was aware of the damage he had caused. 

In submitting a letter from Mr Cassidy’s family where they outlined their full support for him, she added that while the court “may not agree with all the content of the letter," it was "frank and honest."

In appealing for leniency, Ms Stuart said, “I would ask the court not to imprison Mr Cassidy despite the fact that the custody threshold has been met in this case…”, at which point Judge Jonathan Dunphy interjected, “It has been surpassed at speed.” 

Upon returning from a lengthy deliberation break on the matter, Judge Dunphy said the gravity of the offence meant the case fell into “the mid range of offending.” 

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He stated that the aggravating factors in the case were “the seriousness of the charge, the persistent nature of the offence over a 12 month period, the level of harassment committed in a public environment against a solicitor in the locality.” 

Judge Dunphy added however that as Mr Cassidy had accepted responsibility, he would impose an actual sentence of 3 years in prison. 

He suspended the final 2 years of the sentence which, he said, was substantial but that he was doing it on strict conditions. Judge Dunphy added that the effects on the victim were “inherently serious” and “there must be consequences for appalling behaviour such as this”. 

Conditions imposed by the Judge included that Mr Cassidy keep the peace and be of good behaviour.

A formal order was also granted by Judge Dunphy which stated that Mr Cassidy shall not, for a period of five years from the date of sentencing, Feb 13, “given the nature and length of the harassment, communicate by any means with Ms Brady and shall not approach her office or place of residence during that five year period.”   

Full account in next week’s Longford Leader