JAILED | 

Finglas man threatened to kill garda’s mother and ‘get people to rape his wife’

Patrick Cawley (34) had 144 previous convictions

Today at 08:55

A man who threatened a garda that he would “get people to rape his wife” and would “kill his mother stone dead” has been jailed for seven months.

Patrick Cawley (34) had been trying to start fights with people and had grabbed a man by the throat when he made the threats to the investigating officer.

Judge John Hughes imposed the sentence when the accused appeared at Dublin District Court.

Cawley, with an address at Plunkett Crescent, Finglas, pleaded guilty to charges including threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour, public intoxication and resisting arrest.

A garda sergeant told the judge that gardaí on duty on August 30 last year saw the accused acting aggressively on Crampton Quay, where he was starting fights with members of the public.

A garda saw him grabbing a man by the throat and when they intervened and tried to calm Cawley down, he became abusive, saying: “I’ll get people to rape your wife, I’ll kill your mother stone dead.”

He was acting erratically and resisted arrest.

Cawley was taken into custody and brought to Kevin Street garda station, where he swung punches and kicks at gardaí.

He grabbed one garda by the hood and ripped his clothing.

While in the station, the accused smeared faeces over the cell, which had to be cleaned at a cost of €80.

In a separate incident last October 5, gardaí came across the accused with a scooter that matched the description of a stolen one and when they approached, he fled across O’Connell Bridge.

Cawley had 144 previous convictions, for charges including public order offences and criminal damage. He was already in custody when he appeared in court on the latest charges, having been refused bail for the incident last October.

Cawley had a severe drug addiction, which had been the main trigger for a lot of his offending, his solicitor John Quinn said.

He had been on methadone since he went into custody and was making efforts to get on a residential treatment programme.

The judge backdated the sentences to last October.