{"id":896538,"date":"2026-09-18T12:46:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T12:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/896538\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T12:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T12:46:12","slug":"alleged-stalker-to-have-electronic-monitoring-tag-removed-so-he-can-attend-mma-classes-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/896538\/","title":{"rendered":"Alleged stalker to have electronic monitoring tag removed so he can attend MMA classes \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">An alleged stalker is to have his electronic monitoring tag removed so he can attend mixed martial arts classes, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/high-court\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/high-court\/\">High Court<\/a> judge ruled on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Jude McGuigan was granted permission to take off the device while on bail charged with a series of offences against the same woman.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">The 30-year-old, from Moira Court in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/belfast\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/belfast\/\">Belfast<\/a>, faces counts of stalking, harassment and breach of a non-molestation order.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">McGuigan is currently banned from contacting the alleged victim or entering a designated exclusion zone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">He returned to court on Thursday seeking to vary another condition that requires him to wear the ankle tag.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Judge Gerry McAlinden was told the application centred on the defendant\u2019s efforts to improve his mental health through physical exercise.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">McGuigan\u2019s attempts to resume <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/ufc\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/ufc\/\">mixed martial arts<\/a> (MMA) training could be hindered by safety concerns about going on to the mats while wearing a monitoring tag, the court heard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">He also wants to attend football practice and a local gym which does not permit entry to those fitted with devices.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">A defence barrister submitted: \u201cHe has a diagnosis of autism and ADHD [and] finds that exercise assists him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Opposing the application, prosecution counsel said the complainant is anxious at the thought of any bail conditions being lifted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">\u201cAt present she feels comfort from the tag and a curfew that ensures monitoring of the defendant,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">However, the judge granted permission to remove the tag after McGuigan gave a personal pledge not to abuse the variation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">\u201cIf there is any messing about or breach of bail it will rebound very badly on him,\u201d McAlinden warned.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">\u201cI am satisfied he realises the importance of remaining in strict compliance with his active bail conditions.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An alleged stalker is to have his electronic monitoring tag removed so he can attend mixed martial arts&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":896539,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,35003,786,31861,785,85],"class_list":["post-896538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-belfast","tag-fighting","tag-high-court","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=896538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/896539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=896538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=896538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=896538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}