DEATH THREAT TO GARDAI AS DAD LAY DYING
40-YEAR-OLD BRENDAN CARRAGHER TOLD THREE COPS HE WOULD KILL THEM
A Louth man who barricaded himself into a house where his father was ‘in his dying days’ and made threats to kill three Gardai who were trying to diffuse the situation has been given a ten month jail term.
Brendan Carragher, 28 Malthouse Apartments, Castlebellingham, admitted a charge of making a threat to kill or cause serious harm arising out of an incident at Drumcar on October 11 2015.
Barrister Irene Sands said her client is currently serving a three year sentence, for assault, which was handed down in October last year. The situation with Gardai had happened when Carragher’s father was terminally ill at home. The defendant’s mother was in court, Ms Sands said, and she didn’t want to continue with any prosecution against her son, but ‘when Gardai went to the house on this occasion, he turned his anger on them and made a threat to kill the Garda who arrived to deal with the family dispute’.
Judge John Coughlan heard how there was a dispute at the house to which Gardai were initially called to home. Inspector Yvonne Murphy said Carragher had threatened to kill three Gardai ‘and his father was dying at the time’.
The inspector said the defendant ‘ barricaded himself into the kitchen and threatened to kill them’.
Ms Sands told the judge Carragher’s father was terminally ill at the time and ‘ was in his dying days’ at the time of the offence.
The barrister added: ‘ There was a lot of stress at the time and he’s very apologetic to Gardai. He is an enhanced prisoner in jail and this was a turbulent and traumatic time and he is highly apologetic to Gardai’.
Judge Coughlan imposed a ten month sentence, to run concurrently with the circuit court sentence Carragher is already serving.
He said: ‘I will not extend his sentence but the Gardai must be protected - it’s as simple as that’.
He allowed the defendant to appeal the sentence if he lodges €100 cash, and Ms Sands said she didn’t anticipate her client would do that.