A previously anonymised County Tyrone man has admitted posing as a child to sexually communicate with young girls.
Don Gailey (46) formerly of Castle View, Newtownstewart admitted two counts each of sexual communication with a child and attempted sexual communication.
He further accepted intentionally presenting as a child to communicate with girls.
These offences occurred on dates between and January 2 and 16, 2024.
There was another charge whereby on February 8, 2024 Gailey attempted to pervert the course of justice by presenting a male to Omagh Police Station to make a false statement as the person who committed the offences, however this has been left of the court books on the basis of guilty pleas to the other matters.
Gailey appeared in the dock of Dungannon Crown Court, speaking only to confirm his identity and plead guilty to five of the six charges.
No details surrounding the circumstances of the offences were disclosed during the short hearing.
A defence barrister requested and adjournment to allow for the preparation of pre-sentence reports.
Judge Brian Sherrard agreed and sentencing will take place on a date to be fixed in September.
He also ordered Gailey to sign the Sex Offender Register before leaving court and remanded him on continuing bail to reside at an address known to police and banned contact with witnesses and online engagement with anyone aged under 18.
When the case first reached court last year a defence lawyer handed in a GP letter stating: “We would seek the defendant’s anonymity is protected.”
Press objected on the basis no advance notice was provided which is the responsibility of defence lawyers and there was ample time to do so as the matter has been publicly listed for well over a week.
Reporting ban applications are consistently being sought in cases such as the charges before the court, more often than not without procedures being adhered to, despite the Judicial Studies Board publishing refreshed guidance in 2019.
This impacts on open justice and creates disparity among defendants appearing in court, given the near constant attempts to keep alleged sexual cases anonymous, generally because of threats to self-harm.
The judge on that occasion noted the application had, likewise, been “sprung on him”.
He suggested Press could proceed to publish details “with caution” however then decided to impose an interim reporting restriction based on the accused’s right to life.
Although the medical evidence was not shared it was assumed the defendant was contending to be at risk of self-harm if identified and given the ground the reporting ban was ultimately granted on.
Press advised they would be challenging the order.
At the next hearing Press and PPS advised no further information had been provided in support of the reporting restriction and a different lawyer appearing for Gailey informed the court he had nothing further to add.
After further submissions from Press around the eligibility of the reporting ban, District Judge Oonagh Mullan stated: “I would not have granted this had I been sitting. The order is removed.”
