Man in court after threatening to burn down house in Offaly

Man and woman were arraigned at Tullamore Circuit Court

placeholder image — Man and woman were arraigned at Tullamore Circuit Court

A DUBLINER, after consuming a lot of drink and drugs, threatened to burn down a Kilcormac man's house, a recent sitting of Tullamore District Court was told.

Daniel Clarke,165 Dolpin House, Dolphin's Barn, Dublin 8 pleaded guilty to the charges, which included threatening a man that he would burn down the house in which he and his family lived.

This occurred on June 30 2020 and the defendant was also charged with damaging the front door of a house on the same date

Sgt James O'Sullivan told the court that DNA taken from blood left on the damaged front door was linked to the defendant.

The defending solicitor Donal Farrelly told the court that his client, who is 29 years of age, came down with friends from Dublin for a party in Kilcormac and a lot of drink was taken during the party. An argument ensued.

Sgt O'Sullivan said Mr Clarke had 35 previous convictions including under Section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, some driving offences including no insurance, Section 6 of public order, theft (for which he got three years imprisonment) and assault.

“On this particular occasion,” commented Mr Farrelly, “my client had a lot of drink and drugs taken, he got into a heated argument and this resulted in the door incident. While he has a long list of offences there's nothing of a serious nature after 2014. My client has a partner and young daughter and this happened three years ago. He wants to put this behind him. He is willing to pay compensation for the door.”

Judge Andrew Cody convicted and sentenced to two months imprisonment, suspended for two years.