Sentencing adjourned for man who threatened partner during lockdown

A father-of-two who threatened his partner with a knife in their home and was apprehended by an off-duty garda who happened to be passing will be sentenced later.

Franck Lamour (53) of Bird Avenue, Clonskeagh, Co Dublin, was diagnosed with bi-polar depression approximately 15 years ago and was unable to access the medication he had been taking during the Covid-19 lockdown last April.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that this was an isolated incident, which stemmed from Lamour’s mental disorder and the restrictions on his life caused by the global pandemic.

Lamour pleaded guilty to production of a knife and threat to kill or cause serious harm at his address on April 7th, 2020. He has no previous convictions.

At a sentencing hearing in January, Judge Pauline Codd said she would like some assurance that Lamour is under appropriate medical care and adjourned the case.

On Tuesday, Barry Ward BL, defending, said his client had made efforts to find a GP in this jurisdiction, but has been unable to find one who speaks French. He said his client has two months of medication and he is able to receive further medicine by post from France.

Judge Codd said she needs to know by reference to medical evidence if Lamour is still a risk. She said that as far as she can see there is no real supervision that he abides by his medication and thinks somebody will have to supervise him.

She ordered a report from the Probation Service and a psychiatric report and adjourned the case for finalisation on June 2nd, next.

At a previous sentencing hearing, Detective Garda Alan Conlon told Diana Stuart BL, prosecuting, that Lamour and his partner of 25 years Cecille Doussinault and their two sons moved here from France in September 2019.

Det Gda Conlon said Lamour does not speak English and that after two months in the country he began self-medicating with alcohol, though he stopped drinking after seeing a doctor. He began drinking again a week prior to the offence.

On the day of the incident he had been drinking for approximately 12 hours. Ms Doussinault woke up to find him in the living room still under the influence of alcohol.

He told Ms Doussinault that it was her fault “for bringing him here”, took her phone away from her and told her not to leave the room. He asked her to buy him vodka, but when she declined he said they would go together.

Lamour got a knife from the kitchen and told her not to shout for help. Ms Doussinault attempted to wake one of her sons by opening his bedroom door, but Lamour brought the knife close and told her not to wake him up or “it would not be good for you”.

The accused “effectively walked her down to the shops” with the knife in his jacket pocket, the court heard. When Ms Doussinault refused to go into the shop, Lamour began running back to their home, followed quickly by Ms Doussinault who was fearful for her sons.

Off-duty garda

Garda Martin O’Rourke was in the area off-duty and noticed the two running back to their home. He decided to follow them, went to the back of the house and saw through the window the accused with a knife in his hand.

Gda O’Rourke entered the house, told Lamour to drop the knife and restrained him. He then contacted gardaí, who soon arrived and arrested the accused.

Det Gda Conlon agreed with Mr Ward that while this was "obviously terrifying" for the victim, it was an isolated incident. He agreed that Lamour has followed all conditions of his bail and not had any contact with his former partner.

The garda agreed that Lamour is “not a domestic abuser in the traditional sense”, saying the offences appear to have stemmed from the circumstances of his mental disorder and the “restrictions on his life” caused by the global pandemic.

Mr Ward said that the medication his client used to treat his type-2 bi-polar disorder is not prescribed in Ireland and his client would travel to France to collect it. He said his client was prevented from travelling to France by the lockdown that came into effect in March 2020.

Counsel said a psychiatrist has stated in a report before the court that his client has 79 per cent disability as a result of his condition. He said his client is now managing his condition and it is “extremely unlikely” an incident such as this will recur.