Ms Forsythe said,
“The comments by Judge Sherrard were awful and ill-judged. They rank amongst the worst statements I have ever heard from a judge.
I had written to our Lady Chief Justice about the matter and welcome her response and action. I would also hope that Judge Sherrard will make a personal statement on the matter in due course.
Eight women including Feeney’s mother and grandmother have taken non-molestation orders against him. He has sixty-seven previous offences including convictions for assault and breaches of court orders as well as the conviction being discussed in the court last week. Feeney should be in jail rather than browsing dating websites.
If someone in business breached company law 60 times they would be barred from being a company director. If someone had 60 motoring offences, they would be banned from driving yet Judge Sherrard declined to ban this monster from contacting women through the internet because he did not “want him to be excluded from normal life”.
I will be writing to Justice Minister Naomi Long because she needs to review this matter and if necessary, have legislative changes drafted so either when devolution returns, they can be made, or in the absence of devolution a Minister in Westminster can make changes so our judiciary are better armed to deal with monsters like Feeney.”