A man has been jailed for threatening to kill the elderly father of a Limerick man shot dead last year.
Steven Fitzgerald (25), Island View Terrace, Kings Island, Limerick, pleaded guilty at the local District Court to threatening to kill or cause serious harm to John Crawford at O'Malley Park on July 14th. Mr Crawford's son Noel (40) was shot dead outside the family home in Southill on December 18th last year.
Limerick District Court heard yesterday that Mr Crawford and his wife Mary were woken by somebody rattling their gate at 2am on the night of the offence.
Mr Crawford told gardaí that he looked out from an upstairs window and saw Fitzgerald outside shouting for another son of his, Paul Crawford.
Fitzgerald shouted: "I'll get you and your wife, you baldy bastard", the court heard.
When Mr Crawford asked him to clear off, saying the family had suffered enough, particularly since Noel's murder, Fitzgerald shouted: "I killed your son."
In his statement to gardaí Mr Crawford said Fitzgerald had his hands behind his back and he was afraid to go outside to him in case he had a weapon.
Judge Tom O'Donnell described the murder reference to Noel Crawford as an aggravating factor in the case, the circumstances of which were "deeply disturbing".
Defence solicitor John Herbert said his client was drinking when he called to the Crawfords' home and behaved in an "abominable fashion". Mr Herbert said his client had no reason to shout at them.
Fitzgerald believed the Fitzgerald family had also suffered as a result of a number of alleged incidents, including threats against his client's daughter.
Judge O'Donnell described the defendant's actions as appalling and imposed a four-month jail sentence starting from yesterday.