Man held a knife to woman’s throat before standoff with gardaí

A MAN held a knife to a woman’s throat before barricading himself into a stranger’s home where he drank the homeowner’s beer during a three-hour standoff with gardaí.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested after officers initially responded to a report of a domestic violence incident in Co Limerick.

He is charged with breaching a safety order and putting the complainant in fear by holding a knife to her throat, and with two further counts in relation to committing a burglary during the course of a dispute in which he produced a kitchen knife in a manner likely to intimidate another person.

The incidents allegedly occurred around 7.30pm on May 6, in a rural housing estate.

During a bail application before Limerick District Court, a garda witness gave evidence of receiving a 999 call from a woman alleging the accused had threatened her.

Another person not named in court tried to intervene and sustained an injury from a shovel, the garda said.

The accused’s solicitor Sarah Ryan said that, following her client’s arrest, the complainant phoned her to say she would not be making a formal written statement against the accused. The garda witness claimed the accused fled the scene on foot and was observed entering an occupied house about 1.5km away, where he “barricaded” himself inside the property along with the occupants.

The man was observed in possession of a knife when he entered the house and then he armed himself with a second knife inside the property, the officer claimed.

“He informed the occupants he was not going to hurt them but he refused to leave, and a three-hour standoff occurred,” the garda said.

“He was highly intoxicated, aggressive and a danger to himself and to others. He threatened to injure himself.”

The solicitor said her client had said that gardaí were called after a minor dispute at a house, and that the accused “stupidly” ran from the area before gardaí arrived.

The accused, who wore PPE equipment to the hearing, gave evidence in which he admitted entering a house.

Judge Marian O’Leary, presiding, refused bail given the “very frightening and very serious” evidence before the court.

The man was remanded in custody to Limerick Prison to appear before Limerick District Court again for directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions on May 12.