'Message in a bottle' left at door was threat to kill

A Buncrana man left a message in a bottle at the door of a another man threatening his life would be taken.

Alan Delve (39) was brought before Buncrana District Court in relation to the incidents.

Delve, with addresses at St Vincent’s Villas, Tullyarvan and Lower Main Street, Buncrana, was present in court when the matter was heard.

Garda Deirdre Connolly gave evidence of further charging Delve, who made no reply.

Sergeant Jim Collins told the court that Devle faced charges of making threats to kill - offences which are contrary to Section 5 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997.

Sergeant Collins said that another man alleged that Delve left a note at the door in a small glass bottle.

Sergeant Collins said the note read: ‘Terrorists. This is your last warning. Stay out of my life or you may lose yours’.

On another occasion, Sergeant Collins said Delve made a series of threats about what he would to do another man, whose name was not given in court.

The threats, which were said to a Garda, included: ‘I’ll smash his f****** face’, ‘I’ll murder the b******’ and ‘he’ll pay for this, mark my words’.

Solicitor for Delve, Mr Ciaran Mac Lochlainn, said his client, an unemployed man, was ‘delusional’ and claimed that people were ‘using weapons to interfere with his brain’.

Bail was granted under existing terms and legal aid was granted to Mr Mac Lochlainn.

The case was adjourned to May 12, 2022.