Man held knife to woman’s throat before barricading himself into house – court

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 yesterday, a court heard today.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested on Wednesday night after gardaí initially responded to a report of a domestic violence incident, at a location in Co Limerick.

He is charged with breaching a safety order and putting the complainant in fear by holding a knife to her throat, contrary to Section 33 (1) of the Domestic Violence Act, 2018; and with two further counts in relation to committing a burglary during the course of a dispute where he produced a kitchen knife in a manner likely to intimidate another person.

The charges allegedly occurred around 7.30pm on May 6th 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 and held a knife to her neck.

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

The accused’s solicitor Sarah Ryan, said, following her client’s arrest, the complainant telephoned her to say she would not be making a formal written statement against the accused.

The garda witness said the accused fled the scene on foot and was observed entering an occupied house about a mile away, where he “barricaded” himself inside the property along with the occupants.

The garda alleged the accused was observed in possession of a knife when he entered the house and that he armed himself with a second knife inside the property.

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

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

The garda said it was her belief that, if the accused was granted bail, he would interfere with witnesses and commit serious offences.

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

“The gardai were chasing me, I entered the property with no knives. I picked them up in the house,” the accused told the court.

He claimed that, on the evening in question, he had a minor scuffle with a third party, not the complainant.

He said he drank “two cans of beer” from a fridge in the house he barricaded himself into.

The accused told the court he “locked all the doors and put the knife to my own throat”.

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 appear before Limerick District Court again for directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions on May 12th.