A garda has claimed at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that he believed the accused wanted him to pass on a threatening message to a journalist.
Det Sgt Joseph O'Hara was giving evidence on day two of the trial of a man charged with threatening to kill Paul Williams, crime editor of the Sunday World.
James Walsh (46), Mountain View Drive, Churchtown, Dublin, has pleaded not guilty to threatening to kill the journalist on June 25th, 2003, and also threatening to cause him serious harm.
Det Sgt O'Hara told Dominic McGinn, prosecuting, that he first heard of the allegations from a colleague on June 25th, 2003, and said statements were taken that afternoon. He said he received taped phone conversations from Mr Williams which he transcribed.
He said he had met Mr Walsh by appointment earlier that day to discuss a different matter and was speaking with him from about 12.10pm to 1.30pm. He said he also spoke with Mr Walsh a number of times on the phone and taped the conversations.
Pat Russell , in cross examination, put it to him that during a taped phone call Mr Walsh had "confided" in him about a family law case that was pending and said he was anxious any adverse publicity could have an effect on the outcome of that case.
Det Sgt O'Hara said Mr Walsh was "aggressive towards Paul Williams" in a taped conversation in which he said: "I don't care if it's a journalist or a garda, there is nobody taking me away from my kids." He continued: "As the recipient of the call I am quite satisfied that it was a threat." He said he believed that Mr Walsh intended for him to pass this message on to Mr Williams.
Mr Russell put it to him that Mr Walsh was concerned that gardaí were providing information about him to Mr Williams and that many people were concerned about gardaí providing information to journalists.
Det Sgt O'Hara replied: "I personally don't know myself, it may be the public perception." Mr Williams agreed, during his cross-examination, that the threats he alleges he received were "at variance" with an earlier call he described as "jeering" from Mr Walsh, "complaining" that there had been no coverage on him in the Sunday World that week.
Mr Williams said: "It was mind games designed to rattle me, scare me, then soften me up so I wouldn't write about him."
He later added: "I believed at all stages that Walsh was capable of carrying out his threats." Mr Russell asked Mr Williams why if he was so terrified did he return a call to Mr Walsh. Mr Williams replied that he "wanted to get to the bottom" of what was going on.
Asked why he referred to Mr Walsh in a familiar manner during the phone call, Mr Williams replied: "I was not going to show him that I was terrified." When Mr Russell asked him about a TV interview he had with Gerry Ryan on Ryan Confidentialin which "you said you were not afraid of any scum bags", Mr Williams described it as "bravado".