Walked into Pint Depot and threatened owners
The defendant had a hammer in his hand as he threatened the owners of the Pint Depot, Royal Oak, Bagenalstown
JUDGE Geraldine Carthy refused jurisdiction last week of a case involving a man walking into a pub in the Royal Oak, Bagenalstown and threatening the owners with a hammer when he appeared before her in Carlow District Court.
Martin Lyons, 46 Springfield Park, Carlow Carlow was charged with possessing a hammer with the intention of incapacitating or intimidating someone at the Pint Depot pub, Royal Oak, Bagenalstown on 16 March 2024, while also being charged with three counts of threatening to cause harm or to kill the owners during the same incident.
Detective Garda Niall Moloney told Judge Carthy that Mr Lyons went into the pub with a hammer in his hand, looking for an employee who no longer worked there. He continued that 30-year-old Mr Lyons was “quite irate” and argued with the owners, threatening to kill them.
Judge Carthy said she believed that it wasn’t appropriate for the case to be dealt with at district court level because of the seriousness of the offences and sent the case back to the DPP’s office for reconsideration.
She also heard evidence about a separate case in which Mr Lyons pleaded guilty to taking a car without authorisation and a charge of deception, arising from an incident that occurred at the Link Road car park, Tullow on 20 April last year.
Garda Philip Knowles said that a car had broken down on the Link Road and that the owner had left it in the car park, but after a number of days, a man came and towed the vehicle away. He continued that Mr Lyons had claimed that the vehicle was his and sold it for scrap to an unsuspecting person for €250.
Sergeant Morgan O’Connor told Judge Carthy that Mr Lyons, who is currently serving a prison sentence, had 142 previous convictions, including drug possession and motoring offences.
Solicitor Chris Hogan said that his client had difficulties with intoxicants and that he was “doing well” in prison.
Judge Carthy then sentenced him to five months’ imprisonment, to run consecutively with his current term.
