Courts / Dublin / Report

Man bombarded colleague with racist, pornographic emails

Date
2022-05-09
Stage
Sentence
Primary locality
Dublin
County
Dublin

Summary

Zohaib Ahmed, 36, a Pakistani national, was sentenced by Judge Martin Nolan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to a fully suspended two‑year prison term and ordered to leave Ireland within a month. Ahmed pleaded guilty to two counts of harassment after sending over 150 threatening, pornographic and racist emails to a female colleague and to Garda Peter Guinan. The harassment began after the colleague sent a routine email about clock‑in procedures; Ahmed then sent more than 120 emails containing explicit and threatening content, including a phone call in which he called her an "Irish whore" and made remarks about her mother. He was also found guilty of harassing Garda Sergeant David O'Leary, who received 52 of the emails. The court warned Ahmed not to contact either complainant for 30 years and imposed a three‑year good‑behaviour order. The victim's impact statement described the emails as a "living hell" that left her feeling unsafe in social situations.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Man bombarded colleague with racist, pornographic emails. Charges or matters: two counts of harassment towards his colleague and an investigating garda between 3 and 25 February, 2020; two counts of harassment towards the HR employee and Sgt O'Leary. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

Why: The judge said Ahmed had sent very distressing images but that he was not going to impose an immediate custodial sentence because the accused had pleaded guilty and said he was remorseful. CNI source report

Case subjects

Zohaib Ahmed

Applicant

Charges: two counts of harassment towards his colleague and an investigating garda between 3 and 25 February, 2020; two counts of harassment towards the HR employee and Sgt O'Leary (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: Zohaib Ahmed (36), of no fixed address, was sentenced to two years in prison fully suspended after he pleaded guilty to two counts of harassment towards his colleague and an investigating garda between 3 and 25 February, 2020. Passing sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court today, Judge Martin Nolan warned Ahmed not to contact either of the complainants for 30 years. "It goes without saying, this was disgraceful behaviour," said Judge Nolan as he ordered Ahmed to be of good behaviour for three years.

Places mentioned

Court Venue
  • Dublin
  • Dublin Circuit Criminal Court

Topics

Harassment Stalking Stage Sentence

Related court reports

Read the original CNI report

Help us improve this report

Your request is saved for the newsroom's next review. It does not immediately change the published report.

Prefer email? Send a correction request.

Request a review

We will use it only to contact you about this request.