Lee Hutchinson jailed for harassment campaign against gardaí

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Lee Hutchinson was resentenced to seven years, with the final two years suspended, for harassment at the Court of Appeal on 21 October 2024. He will serve five years in custody for targeting three gardaí and their families with anonymous letters.

The court found the original sentencing judge had been told the maximum penalty was ten years, when it was seven. Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy ruled that the offending fell in the midrange, but the three victims warranted consecutive sentences.

The letters, sent between 1 May 2014 and 21 September 2018, contained allegations about the officers that GSOC deemed unfounded. The judge described them as malicious, spurious and untrue, and said the impact extended beyond the immediate victims.