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\n Judge Sinead McMullan said she accepted the defendant never meant to carry out his threat but the garda did not realise that.\n <\/p>\n
A Dundalk man who threatened to burn a garda’s home after he was stopped for holding a mobile phone while driving has been spared jail at Drogheda Circuit Court.<\/p>\n
Padraig Smith (41) with an address at Mountain View, Point Road, Dundalk pleaded guilty to making a threat to cause criminal damage on December 15th 2020 and to\u00a0obstructing a garda\u00a0at The Ramparts, Dundalk – a charge which was taken into consideration at yesterday’s sentencing hearing.<\/p>\n
The court had previously heard that garda\u00ed had stopped the defendant when he was seen holding a mobile phone. At first he had been cooperative but then became aggressive and abusive when told his car was to be seized for having no insurance.<\/p>\n
He shouted into a female garda’s face and began swinging his arms wildly while an attempt was being made to handcuff him and the officer was struck in the face and her glasses were knocked off before he was arrested.<\/p>\n
The garda suffered a cut under her left eye, her nose was bleeding and she had difficulty keeping her balance<\/p>\n
Later, in custody in Dundalk Garda Station when he was told the garda had gone to hospital he remarked \u201cGood she deserved it\u201d and added he would find out where her house was and burn it saying \u201cI don\u2019t care. I\u2019ll do 10 years for it\u201d.<\/p>\n
Replying to the defence barrister an investigating garda described the defendant’s flailing arm actions as reckless rather than deliberate.<\/p>\n
In a victim impact statement read to the court in her absence, the complainant said she was retired on medical grounds following the incident, had two cameras installed at her home and had gone from being an outgoing social person, to someone who overthinks and misses her job and her colleagues in An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said it had begun as a simple traffic stop which she had done hundreds of times and said it was terrifying during Covid when the defendant “had roared in my face without a mask”. She said the incident had resulted in physical injury and mental health damage and she had been in fear of meeting the defendant in the street.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The injured party also told how she had become distant from members of her family and had lost out on promotion as she had been unable to attend interviews and while she has moved to the US since her retirement, her life has been on hold for five years.<\/p>\n
Defence barrister Stephen Faulkner BL told the resumed sentencing hearing yesterday that his client had displayed significant remorse for his actions and realised the impact of his threat.<\/p>\n
‘He never had any intention of carrying it out’, he said.<\/p>\n
The barrister said his client was a father of three and suffered from Crohn’s disease.<\/p>\n
At the time of his offending,\u00a0 Mr Faulkner said the defendant had been under severe pressure due to adverse media attention arising from the actions of another family member.<\/p>\n
The barrister urged Judge Sin\u00e9ad McMullan not to impose a custodial sentence.<\/p>\n
Judge McMullan said she accepted the defendant never meant to carry out his threat but the garda did not realise that.<\/p>\n
The judge said it was aggravating that the threat had been made to a serving member of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na.<\/p>\n
‘It was not just a threat to burn property but a threat to burn a home’, said Judge McMullan.<\/p>\n
The judge noted that the injured party had been very badly affected by what happened her as a result of the defendant’s actions.<\/p>\n
Judge McMullan said she accepted the defendant’s deep remorse and noted his guilty plea and that he had not come to Garda attention since the incident while a positive Probation Report had assessed him at low risk of re-offending.<\/p>\n
The judge set a headline sentence of two years for the threat to cause damage charge with the obstruction charge taken into account but with mitigation reduced the sentence to 18 months which she suspended fully for two years.<\/p>\n
‘It was a nasty thing but I don’t think he deserves to go into custody’, Judge McMullan concluded.<\/p>\n
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