Man who barricaded himself in house with hatchet and threatened to kill gardaí sentenced to 18 months in jail

A man who barricaded himself in a house armed with a hatchet and a knife and made threats to kill gardaí has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard John Paul McDonagh (41), formally of Castleforbes Square, East Wall, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty to the production of two articles at an address in Howth on March 27th and 28th, 2020.

He also pleaded guilty to making threats to kill or cause serious harm to gardaí at the same location and date and making threats to kill cause serious harm to a garda in the Criminal Court of Justice on March 28th, 2020. Two further counts of making threats to kill or cause serious harm to gardaí made in February 2020 were taken into consideration.

McDonagh has 131 previous convictions, which include convictions for threats to kill or cause serious harm, assault, possession of weapons and intimidation of a witness. He was also on bail at the time of this offending.

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Passing sentence on Tuesday, Judge Orla Crowe said: “This accused made threats to kill members of An Garda Síochána when they were there all night trying to talk him out of a dangerous situation.” She said she considered this to be a particularly aggravating factor.

She also considered to be aggravating features his considerable number of previous convictions, some of which were very relevant, and that he was on bail at this time of the offence.

Judge Crowe said the accused made “very specific threats to named gardaí”. She said “gardaí have to be robust, but a threat is a threat”.

The judge said that McDonagh and his wife are now back together, and she is eager to have him home. She set a headline sentence of four years.

She said the mitigating factors in this case were his early guilty plea, that he is remorseful, and that he has missed a massive portion of his children’s lives. She also noted that this offending happened when the accused was drinking and that he has people who speak highly of him when he is not drinking.

Judge Crowe sentenced McDonagh to two concurrent terms of three years in prison for two counts of threats to kill or cause serious harm. The final 18 months of the sentence was suspended for 18 months. He must undergo treatment for alcohol use during this time. This sentence will begin in April 2024 when he has completed his current prison term.

Det Gda Darren Burke told Derek Cooney, BL, prosecuting, that a garda on duty at a local station answered a telephone call from a man. He first put on a voice and asked to speak to a garda who does not work there. He then started laughing. When the garda recognised his voice McDonagh then made threats to kill a specific female garda and a male garda, calling the female garda a “dirty slut”.

Det Gda Burke said that the garda who took the call rang the number back, and a child answered. She asked to speak with “JP,” and McDonagh came on the phone. Once again, he made threats to kill or cause harm to the two specific members of the gardaí.

The court then heard that on March 27th, 2020, Det Gda Burke was called to McDonagh’s partner’s home in Howth. Det Gda Burke and his colleague were armed, and when they approached the house, they saw a large number of uniformed gardaí, plain clothes gardaí and the Armed Support Unit. They were told that McDonagh had called to the house and demanded a mobile phone from his partner. When she left the house, he barricaded himself in.

McDonagh was known to Det Gda Burke, and he approached the house. He spoke to McDonagh through a window and saw that he had pushed a sofa and a chest of drawers against the front door. He was armed with a hatchet. McDonagh was highly erratic and said he “would kill any gardaí that came near the house”. McDonagh was also seen holding a knife and said he was going to “slit his own wrists”. Garda negotiators were called and attempted to speak with McDonagh.

The court heard that in the early hours of the morning, McDonagh found cans of alcohol and tablets and consumed both. He first became aggressive, but he then became drowsy and fell asleep. At 5.15am the Armed Support Unit entered the house with force and detained and arrested McDonagh.