Man threatened neighbour and son on Halloween night, court told

A man threatened his neighbour and her young son on Halloween night after being taunted by children throwing fireworks at his home, a court has heard.

Dubliner Stuart McManus (44) went to the woman’s home and complained about fireworks being thrown at his home and blamed her son. He was holding a travel cup and said it had boiling water and sugar in it and threatened to throw it on the woman.

He told her he would throw it on her son if he was present. After his arrest he told gardaí it was an empty mug and that he would never have “laid a hand” on the woman.

He accepted that he had frightened her. He said he was very angry about young people throwing fireworks at his home. He told gardaí he would never do anything like this again.

McManus, of Joyce Road, Drumcondra, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to making a threat to kill or cause serious harm to the woman at her home on Ferguson Road, Drumcondra.

In a victim impact statement, the woman said she had opened the door of her home expecting to see children in Halloween costumes.

She said she was frightened by McManus’s actions but accepted that he was provoked because local children had taunted him by shouting inappropriate comments at him.

She said she feels no animosity towards McManus and doesn’t wish for him to be punished.

Karl Monaghan BL, defending, said his client was a soft target for anti-social behaviour in the area. He lives at home with his mother and is a recovering drug addict.

Judge Karen O’Connor praised the victim for the kind and generous spirit she has shown towards McManus. She placed McManus on a 12 month probation and ordered him to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for that period.

The court heard McManus was exposed to domestic violence as a child and began abusing heroin at 17.

Mr Monaghan told the court there was continuing anti-social behaviour in the area and that the fireworks that night were “the straw that broke the camel’s back”.