Man in court over ‘threat to kill’
Woman claims he said he’d ‘cut her up and bury her’
A MAN has appeared in court accused of locking a woman in his van, pulling a knife on her, and threatening to “cut her up and bury her”.
Karl O’reilly, 40, is accused of locking a woman in his home, assaulting her, threatening to kill her with a knife and poker and then later taking her to Mayo in a van where he allegedly threatened “to kill her multiple times”.
O’reilly, with an address at Higginstown Woods, Granard, Co Longford, is in total accused of two counts of false imprisonment, two counts of threats to kill, a section three assault and possession of knives.
Bray District Court heard that the false imprisonment charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Giving evidence of arrest, charge and caution before Judge Nicola Jane Andrews, Det Sgt Donal O’ Sullivan said he charged the accused with three of the six offences at 1.50am and he responded “no thanks”.
Det Garda Daragh Mulhall then gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution with respect to the other three charges – to which he said the accused made no reply.
CHARGES
In objection to bail Det Sgt O’sullivan laid out the State’s case against the accused, telling the court the charges relate to a complaint made by a 31-year-old woman who made written statements on Tuesday.
The Det Sgt told the court that the woman travelled from the UK to Ireland in mid-february and was collected at Dublin Airport by the accused, who was known to her.
He said the woman alleges that O’reilly’s “mood deteriorated” after he missed his uncle’s funeral and that this resulted in him becoming “violent” on February 28 this year.
The court was told that the woman alleges that her “liberty was restricted” over a 15-hour period – with the accused preventing her from leaving his home in Granard, Co Longford, by locking the back door and pulling her back any time she tried to leave.
The woman further alleged to gardai the accused jumped on her, “kicking her and causing bruising” before he threatened to stab and kill her with a rusty kitchen knife or poker. Det Sgt O’sullivan told the court that the woman stated the
Threatened to burn my house down and kill my whole family
WOMAN’S CLAIMS
COURT YESTERDAY
abuse then stopped when the accused “calmed down” and she remained in his company after that before they left Longford and went to various hotels in the Dublin area.
Setting out the woman’s claims Det Sgt O’sullivan said she alleged that on March 12 the accused locked her in a van he was driving for a “long period,” during which time he “threatened to kill her multiple times”.
The woman said the accused pulled out a knife and pressed a button on it before shoving it in her face, threatening to “stab her, cut her up and bury her”. The woman said O’reilly told her if she phoned the police she would get in trouble. He very rarely stopped the van, but when he did she could not escape.
The woman told gardai the accused spent hours “mentally terrorising me”.
The woman also claimed she eventually managed to jump out of the van and make a 999 call before engaging with a man with a dog who she asked for help in the Arklow area. She told gardai she didn’t think the man believed her and O’reilly “had tried to make her look mental”.
The woman said she had “given up hope” by then. Later that morning at approximately 11am the accused is alleged to have driven to a hostel in Dublin city where he kept the woman locked in the van and stated he was going inside to a hostel she had been residing in to get her belongings. He is then alleged to have told the woman the police had her belongings and they instead travelled to Mayo. During that journey the woman claims the accused “bullied me, threatened to burn my house down, kill me and my whole family.”
The defence stated it is O’reilly’s case she was “not telling the truth”. Judge Andrews refused the accused bail and remanded him into custody.
He is set to appear again before Bray District Court via video link next Thursday.