A court has heard that a man issued a series of violent threats to his partner’s former boyfriend, including saying he would decapitate and dismember him, reports Breaking News.
The 42-yr-old admitted to making a threat to kill or cause serious harm in November 2022. He has no prior convictions and cannot be identified for legal reasons, reports Breaking News.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court was told on Tuesday that the victim received six phone calls within a 20-minute period on the night in question, during which multiple threats were made.
The accused, who is in a relationship with the victim’s former girlfriend, identified himself during the calls, reports Breaking News.
During the exchanges, he threatened to kill the man in Polish, stating he intended to cut him and remove his head.
He also claimed he knew where the victim lived and said he could arrive within 20 minutes to carry out the threats, reports Breaking News.
The man described himself as the victim’s executioner, saying he would attack his legs with a drill, smash his head against a curb, drag him from his home, and dismember him. He also repeated threats to kill and decapitate him.
The victim recorded the calls using a mobile phone app, and the recordings were later obtained by gardaí, translated, and transcribed, reports Breaking News.
The accused was interviewed in September 2023, during which he made full admissions, confirmed it was his voice on the recordings, and expressed remorse.
The investigating garda agreed with defence counsel Keith Spencer that the accused said he made the threats because the victim had allegedly been harassing his partner, reports Breaking News.
The court also heard that the man’s partner had a protection order against her ex. However, no formal breaches of that order had been reported, and the victim did not provide a reason for the threats.
It was accepted that the accused had been drinking at the time he made the threats, reports Breaking News.
He told gardaí he understood the fear he caused and apologised, describing the incident as a “big regret” and saying he had learned he should not drink.
The court was informed that the Director of Public Prosecutions had directed summary disposal, but jurisdiction was declined by the District Court, reports Breaking News.
In a victim impact statement read by prosecuting counsel Jane McCudden, the injured party said he now lives with a “nagging sense of danger” and fear of attack, adding that he remains intimidated and deeply affected.
Defence counsel Spencer asked the court to take into account his client’s employment record, early guilty plea, and expressions of remorse, reports Breaking News.
He described the threats as serious but characterised them as the “ramblings and aggression” of a drunken man, adding that his client believed he was trying to protect his partner from ongoing unwanted contact.
He added that his client has avoided the injured party since the incident, which he said resulted from a “rush of blood to the head” during a period of frustration, reports Breaking News.
Spencer also urged the court to consider non-custodial sentencing options.
Judge Elma Sheahan noted the man’s lack of previous convictions and that he has not come to Garda attention since, reports Breaking News.
She ordered the preparation of a probation report, “or a greater sense of his presentation in terms of these matters,” and adjourned the case until July, granting the man continuing bail.
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