Declan Meagher was jailed for 18 months after he stalked his ex-girlfriend, bombarded her with 200 calls a day, and cracked an egg over her head in a café in a campaign of harassment
A stalker tracked down his ex-girlfriend at a café before cracking an egg over her head. Declan Meagher’s “petty, nasty and humiliating” attack followed a relentless barrage of hundreds of phone calls a day as part of a deeply troubling harassment campaign.
The disturbing behaviour persisted even after a stint in prison, and later escalated to threats to chop off her mother’s legs. Despite the MMA fan now claiming he is “disgusted in his actions”, a judge delivering his sentence back to custody yesterday warned him: “If you carry on like this, you are just going to end up back in prison, probably for a long period of time.”
Liverpool Crown Court heard on Tuesday afternoon (October 20) how Meagher had been in a relationship with the woman, who we have chosen not to name, for roughly a year between August 2025 and June 2026.
The relationship broke down after the 24-year-old defendant, of Livingston Drive South in Aigburth, tugged at her underwear while accusing her of being unfaithful during a friend’s birthday celebration on June 7 this year.
Prosecuting barrister Olivia Randell outlined how the victim ended things with Meagher the very next day, making it clear he was not to contact her again. She added: “Nevertheless, the defendant proceeded to contact her 200 times a day from an unknown number. When she did answer, she recognised the defendant’s voice. He would make comments like ‘come here and talk to me, you’re dead’.”
Meagher was also alleged to have contacted his former partner’s previous employer, damaged her possessions and “spread malicious rumours”, while turning up at her home and various events and activities where she happened to be present, reports the Liverpool Echo.
During one incident on June 17, he reportedly demanded that she “see him, or he will make things worse for everybody”, before bombarding her with 100 phone calls while she was speaking to police officers following a report of his conduct, accusing her of “being with another male” when she picked up one of his calls.
Then on June 21, while the complainant was visiting a café in Garston, Meagher stormed in, seized her by the arm and hauled her outside, before producing an egg from his pocket, cracking it over her head and spitting at her. This resulted in his arrest the following day, upon which he was taken into custody at Belle Vale Police Station.
However, after being left unattended near a set of shutters, Meagher “saw an opportunity to run”, prompting officers to give chase down the street before he was eventually caught on nearby Abbeyvale Drive. He subsequently continued to “tense up and flail around” before being restrained in handcuffs.
Meagher was reportedly remanded in custody briefly before his release in August, whereupon he continued stalking his former girlfriend despite bail conditions explicitly forbidding contact.
During this period, he threatened to “make a video of her begging for her life”, warned he would “chop her mum’s legs off” and told her she was “f***ing finished and to ring the plod”.
After uploading photographs of his ex-partner to his Facebook story and sending her messages on August 17 demanding she “unblock him, or he’d continue to embarrass her”, Meagher was apprehended in his garden at approximately 11.30pm that evening. Officers were forced to use PAVA spray to restrain him.
In a statement presented to the court, the victim revealed: “The whole incident has left me feeling anxious about leaving my house in case he’s in the area. I’m paranoid to the point I can’t sleep. I’m constantly checking out of the front window for any noise, in case it’s him. I can’t sit in my own back garden, as I’m in fear he may look over the fence. I’m fearful he would kill me.”
Meagher’s criminal record includes nine convictions spanning 15 offences, amongst them a grievous bodily harm with intent charge from 2016 when he was a youth. He also allegedly attacked family members between 2020 and 2024, and received an 18-month sentence in November 2024 for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and intentional strangulation against a different former partner.
Peter White, representing the defendant, informed the court: “He is genuinely remorseful and disgusted in his own actions. He does note his diagnosis of autism and ADHD, a complete lack of emotional regulation. Unfortunately, at the age of 24, he would not appear to be equipped with the materials needed to enter into adult relationships.
“He is only 24 and he is neurodivergent. He did have a positive side when he was at liberty. He has a positive relationship with his father now. He does hope to reside with him. He is engaging in mixed martial arts and Muay Thai, keeping himself active.
“He is still a young man. In my respectful submission, looking at the letter that he has written to your honour, he is not a write-off. He does have a sincere desire to change and not while away and waste his formative years inside prison. Mr Meagher, having spent two months in custody already, displays significant insight into his offending and could be trusted on a suspended sentence order.”
Meagher admitted stalking causing fear of violence, two counts of assault by beating and obstructing a police constable. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a black hoodie, he was jailed for 18 months and handed a 10-year restraining order.
During sentencing, Judge David Swinnerton stated: “You do have a poor record. Your pre-sentence report details 33 domestic violence callouts from partners, your mother and your sisters. The answer for why that happens may lie in what you have said in your letter. You are diagnosed as neurodiverse and find it hard to keep control of your emotions.
“Unfortunately for those who love you, and who you should love back, that is a very vulnerable position for them. You do act violently when you lose control. You are still a young adult, but you need to learn. Someone at some point is going to find you to be dangerous if you commit offences of violence.
“There were threats to chop her mum’s legs off and threats against her and members of her family and bombarding her with phone calls, 200-a-day across parts of that period. Also, for a period in the middle of that, you were in custody for a short while. You were released with bail conditions and you carried on with those phone calls. That must have been pretty frightening for her, that even bail conditions did not do any good.”
The judge further remarked on Meagher’s second assault: “It was petty. It was nasty. It was designed to humiliate her. I assume you don’t carry an uncooked egg in your pocket routinely, and you took it to do what you did. A pretty nasty way to treat your partner, all borne out of jealousy, your inability to control your emotions, your inability to deal with the ups and downs of an adult relationship.
“I do accept that you are remorseful, you do wish to change and you do not want to carry on living like this. You are going to have to put the work in to learn and grow. If you carry on like this, you are just going to end up back in prison, probably for a long period of time.
“I am not going to suspend your sentence. Other things have been tried with you. Every single time, you have gone on to reoffend. All that is going to change you is you being determined, upon your release, not to reoffend again.”