A salesman who broke into a former Evening Herald journalist's home and told him he would be killed as revenge for the Balkans war has been fined £16,000.
Damien Rankin (32), of Channel Road, Rush, Co Dublin, had claimed at a five-day trial last July that he was not responsible for his actions because slimming tablets mixed with alcohol had left him in a psychotic state.
The jury convicted Rankin of assaulting a former Evening Press and Evening Herald journalist, the late Michael O'Toole, and his wife, Maureen, at their home in Strand Road, Portmarnock.
Rankin was also convicted of trespass in a manner likely to cause fear to the O'Tooles and their neighbour, Mr Anthony Clarke. The court heard that Rankin told the O'Tooles he was a US army commander and was going to kill them.
Det Garda Gerard McNally yesterday read from a victim impact report in which Mrs O'Toole said that Rankin had caused £4,453 damage to her home. She had also suffered soft tissue damage to her hand when Rankin threw her across a room.