Ex-garda threatened to shoot his daughter
The defendant pleaded guilty at Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court.
An ex-garda with mental health issues threatened to shoot his daughter and burn her house down, a court has heard.
Damien Crean, aged 71, of Childers Heights, Ballina, pleaded guilty at a sitting of Mayo Circuit Criminal Court to making threats to kill and threats to cause criminal damage.
The court was told that on June 20, 2022, Christine Crean, of Carracastle, Attymass, reported to Gardaí a WhatsApp message sent to her by her father.
The message stated that the accused was going to get a firearm and he warned her to keep an eye over her shoulder. The defendant also told his daughter to “say her prayers as she was going to meet her maker". He threatened that her house would “go up in smoke” if she told anyone about the message.
Crean was arrested and made full admissions. He said he never intended to follow through on the threats. The court heard the accused has a history of mental health issues and felt his children were trying to intervene in how he managed his condition.
In a victim impact statement, Ms Crean said the message filled her with “bone-crushing fear", adding that she knew her father was "more than capable of carrying out the threats".
The court heard Crean had been a Garda for six years before being invalided out of the force due to mental health issues.
“This isn’t a notorious felon. This is an isolated man with certain mental health difficulties,” stated Crean’s barrister Diarmuid Connolly.
He said his client is a widower who has not seen his family for two and a half years.
Judge Eoin Garavan said he was willing to give the defendant a chance.
“This is a rather sad case of a man who was enforcing the law and is now before the court in the mature years of his life,” commented the judge before imposing a six-month suspended prison sentence.
