Courts / Dublin / Report

Protection order case against woman collapses amid 'photoshopped' WhatsApp message row

Date
2025-05-06

Stage
Charge Or Pretrial

Primary locality
Tallaght

County
Dublin

Summary

In a Tallaght District Court hearing on 6 May 2025, a 24‑year‑old woman faced a charge of breaching a protection order that prohibited her from contacting her former partner. The complainant, a 25‑year‑old man, alleged that the woman sent him an abusive WhatsApp message on 3 January, which he had shown to Gardaí and printed as evidence. The woman's solicitor, Michael Hennessy, argued that the message was fabricated using Photoshop, noting that no digital record of the message existed on the defendant's phone and that the phone was water‑damaged and not examined. The prosecution, represented by Dr Seán Smith, maintained that the printed screenshot matched the complainant's phone and that no expert analysis was required. The case collapsed when Judge Patricia Cronin discovered that the charge sheet listed a different name and address, violating Order 38 of the District Court Rules, and dismissed the proceedings for lack of admissible evidence.