A YOUNG man whose father had thrown him out of the family home and taken him back after he was found begging on the streets has been jailed for two years by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for assaulting and threatening to kill a garda.
Evidence was given that he threatened "to shoot" or "to chop up" Garda John Cashman and said if he went to prison he would pay someone else to do it.
Stephen Crosbie (25), Clifden Park, Shankill, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to threatening Garda Enda Coughlin at Dún Laoghaire Garda station that he would kill or cause serious harm to Garda Cashman on March 29th, 2007.
Judge Martin Nolan said Crosbie had 50 previous convictions, some of which were for violent offences, and said "a threat from such a person has to be taken seriously".
Judge Nolan imposed a sentence of two years in prison backdating it to reflect time spent in custody. He ordered that probation services "take an interest in" Crosbie for a year after his release.
Det Garda Seán Allen told Bernard Condon, prosecuting, that Crosbie asked for Garda Cashman at Dún Laoghaire station and became aggressive when told he was unavailable. Crosbie said he would shoot Garda Cashman and find out where he lived.
Det Garda Allen said Crosbie had previously been jailed for six months for an assault on Garda Cashman and there had been an interaction between them earlier that day.
Crosbie told gardaí on his arrest that he had been told to "f*** off" by the garda at the front desk and complained of harassment. He again threatened Garda Cashman saying: "I will chop him to bits" and said if he was sent to prison he would pay someone else to do it.
Det Garda Allen agreed with Máire Torrens, defending, that Crosbie had made "graphic admissions" and that there was a history of psychiatric problems in his family.
David Crosbie told Ms Torrens that his son began using drugs following the death of his brother from brain cancer and his mother's death the following year. He had kicked his son out of home several times when he got into trouble but had found him begging and had taken him back. Mr Crosbie said his son "does more harm to himself than anybody else".
Ms Torrens submitted that a psychiatric report indicated Crosbie's underlying feelings of hostility were abating and asked that any sentence include a period of post-release probation supervision.