A man has been charged with making threats to kill or cause serious harm to two people in the aftermath of an incident in Co Wexford at the weekend when a 9-year-old boy was badly injured after he was attacked by a pitbull terrier.
Niall Byrne (27) appeared before a special sitting of Gorey District Court on Wednesday evening charged with issuing threats to kill or cause harm to two people as well as three unrelated road traffic offences.
The threats are alleged to have been issued during the investigation of the dog attacking nine-year-old Alejandro Miszan, who was seriously injured by the pit bull terrier in Enniscorthy on Sunday at about 4pm.
The court was told Mr Byrne, with an address at Forgelands, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, was arrested on Tuesday morning by Garda Kevin Arnold. The garda told Judge Gerard Furlong when the charges were put to Mr Byrne he replied to one of them, denying issuing threats.
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He was charged with threats to kill or cause harm to two people, under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, at Forgelands, Enniscorthy, on Sunday evening. The three road traffic charges he faces include driving with no tax or insurance and dangerous driving.
However, those charges are unrelated to the threats to kill or cause harm allegation and it is alleged those three driving offences were committed in Ferns, Co Wexford, on November 4th.
The court was told Mr Byrne was consenting to being remanded in custody and had no medical issues, though a request was made to ensure his protection in prison because of his circumstances. Judge Furlong said he would record the request for 23-hour lock-up and ask the governor of Cloverhill Prison to note the request.
The accused man, who the court was told was not working, was granted legal aid in respect of the two sets of charges. He was remanded in custody to Cloverhill Prison to appear, via video link, before Wexford District Court next Monday, December 5th.
