Lurgan man blames his 'big thumbs' for 'accidentally' messaging a woman he was barred from contacting on Facebook

Mark William David Cairns, aged 38, from Lime Grove in Lurgan was charged with breaching a restraining order.

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He was accused of contacting and pestering a woman without reasonable excuse between December 10 and 11 last year.

District Judge Francis Rafferty agreed to hear the case ‘on the paper’.

Cairns’ lawyer referred to a screenshot of the first Facebook request, adding the defendant claimed this was ‘accidental’.

“The second Facebook request, there is no screenshot strangely and that is disputed. It is Mr Cairns’ case that this can be done accidentally.”

District Judge Rafferty said: “Mr Cairns goes one step further and indicates that not only was it accidental but that there was a reason for it. The reason for it is that ‘I’ve got big thumbs’.

"Let’s see your thumbs Mr Cairns,” the district judge asked. When Cairns showed his thumbs from the dock, the district judge said: “They don’t seem particularly enlarged to me. I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that there will be a conviction.”

He asked if Cairns was a serving prisoner. The barrister said he was, having received a three-month sentence on March 1.

DJ Rafferty told Cairns: “If someone says they don’t want to hear from you, they don’t want to hear from you. Don’t think yourself so charming that they won’t be able to resist your blandishments. If somebody says ‘No’, it means ‘No’. That’s the beginning and the end of it.”

He gave Cairns a two-month jail term.