A man who drunkenly stabbed his father in the hand and threatened to kill gardaí when they arrived to assist has been sentenced to eight months in prison. James McDonagh (22) refused to put a knife down and shouted at Garda John Dure: “I’ll f***ing kill you sergeant or whoever you are.”
McDonagh, Campsite, Coolock Lane, Santry, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to threatening to kill Garda Dure at his home on January 1st, 2010.
Garda Alan Flaherty told Noel Devitt, prosecuting, that gardaí were called to the campsite following a row between McDonagh and his father. Garda Dure approached the caravan and McDonagh shouted at him not to come any closer. Garda Flaherty used his pepper spray after McDonagh threw the knife at him. “I cannot give him a chance because of this,” Judge Martin Nolan said.
“Hopefully a prison sentence will teach him a lesson not to threaten gardaí.”