A woman from Dublin has been handed a six-month jail term after sending social media messages to Tánaiste Simon Harris, calling him a “murderer” and stating “I hope somebody does something to your family”.
Sandra Barry from Dublin, became emotional as her case was heard at Dublin District Court, with the messages described as a result of “three minutes of madness”, reports RTE.
Her solicitor, Tracy Horan, told Judge Michele Finan that her client was entering a guilty plea.
The charge alleged that on 30 August 2025, at her home address, she sent “a threatening or grossly offensive communication to Simon Harris with intent to cause harm”, reports RTE.
The offence was brought under the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020.
Mr Harris was not present in court as a result of the guilty plea, reports RTE.
During sentencing, Judge Michele Finan stated: “These crimes are committed behind closed doors and in the comfort of people’s homes and yet they have such huge and very catastrophic impact on the individuals who are the recipients”, reports RTE.
Judge Finan said she was required to impose a prison sentence.
Barry was charged following an investigation by the Garda Special Detective Unit, reports RTE.
Following sentencing, the mother of one was granted €200 bail pending appeal, with the defence indicating the case would be fully challenged before an appeals judge at the Circuit Court.
No date has yet been scheduled, reports RTE.
In testimony, Detective Garda Richard Markey said the injured party received messages through his Instagram account on 31 August.
Gardaí obtained a warrant to examine the account and identified Barry as the sender, reports RTE.
Further examination revealed that the messages had been sent the previous day, on 30 August.
Investigators believed certain wording was deliberately used to bypass online safety filters, with “butlet” understood to mean bullet. Some messages were blocked, reports RTE.
Detective Garda Markey read the messages aloud in court at the request of Judge Finan.
“What are you going to do about the attempted kidnapping of a child in Dublin, Lucan, Balgaddy, by a foreigner?”, reports RTE.
“Butlet”, reports RTE.
“You need a butlet”, reports RTE.
“Butlet in the head you need”, reports RTE.
“Blood on your hands, you murderer”, reports RTE.
“F*** you”, reports RTE.
“I hope somebody does something to your family”, and she asked whether if one of his relatives was raped “would you sort the country out?”, reports RTE.
The Director of Public Prosecutions directed that the matter be dealt with summarily, and Judge Finan accepted jurisdiction, keeping the case in the District Court rather than transferring it to the Circuit Court, which has greater sentencing powers.
Barry’s home was searched on 2 September, reports RTE.
Detective Garda Markey agreed with Ms Horan that Barry cooperated with gardaí and made certain admissions.
The solicitor said her client was remorseful and had brought a letter addressed to the injured party, reports RTE.
Barry, who works as an equine hand in west Dublin, has eight previous convictions dating back to 2019, largely for road traffic matters and one drug possession offence, which resulted in fines.
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Character references were submitted to Judge Finan on Barry’s behalf, reports RTE.
In mitigation, Ms Horan said her client had no memory of sending the messages, which were sent over a three-minute period late at night.
She said Barry had recently started new anti-depressant medication and had since returned to her doctor to understand what went wrong following the change, why she acted as she did, and why she had no recollection, reports RTE.
The court heard Barry believed a child had been abducted, which was troubling her at the time, and that she herself had previously been the victim of a serious assault.
Ms Horan told the court her client was distressed and horrified by her conduct, reports RTE.
“This was three minutes of madness that should never have happened”, and Barry was extremely upset when she later saw the content of the messages, the court heard, reports RTE.
The solicitor added that Barry had not come to further garda attention, was enrolled in a full-time course, continued working as an equine hand, and lived with her partner, who is employed and attended court to support her.
Barry did not give evidence, reports RTE.
Judge Finan acknowledged the mitigating factors and early guilty plea, and noted Barry’s good character, remorse, and a CV showing involvement in community activities.
In refusing to suspend the sentence, the judge said all options had been considered, but these had to be weighed against the contents of a victim impact statement and aggravating evidence, reports RTE.
‘Your actions cannot be consequence free’, Harris says Barry endangered his family
In his victim impact statement, Mr Harris said it was vital that Barry understood the effect of her actions on him and his family, reports RTE.
“I know so much of the world is online these days but I want you to know that when you hide behind your keyboard, your words still have real impact and your threats cause hurt, pain and worry and pose danger,” Mr Harris said, reports RTE.
“Imagine sitting at home to receive a message to your social media account telling you that someone wants to harm your child and vividly suggesting what should happen to them”, reports RTE.
“Imagine that happening against a backdrop and context of a family having experienced sustained threats from other sources in the time preceding that message”, reports RTE.
In his statement, the Tánaiste questioned whether Barry considered the consequences when sending the messages, and whether they were sent with “serious intent to carry out the threat”, reports RTE.
“Is it done in the hope it encourages others to act? Is it done to intimidate me out of my job knowing that the way to hurt and scare any parent is to threaten their innocent child? Or is simply done without any thought given to it and the pain and worry it causes?”, reports RTE.
Mr Harris said threats of violence against politicians are becoming increasingly common, with families now treated as “fair game”.
“When you decided to threaten my child, you violated our family. I don’t know you. I don’t know anything about you. I would never wish you any ill”, reports RTE.
“Sadly you didn’t afford the same respect to my family”, reports RTE.
The Tánaiste said he genuinely believes Barry’s actions placed his family in danger, adding that he was “sickened and angered” by the risk posed and the distress caused.
“Your actions are not consequence free. They cannot be,” he concluded, reports RTE.
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