Man appeared at Louth pub carrying a chainsaw, Dundalk court heard
A 43 year old man who rammed another man’s car onto a main road in north Louth, later appeared in a local pub carrying a chainsaw, Dundalk Circuit Court heard last week.
Conor McLoughlin of Cornamucklagh, Omeath pleaded guilty in February to a charge of endangerment arising out of the initial incident and possessing an article with intent to cause injury or intimidate at Howe’s Bar, Knocknagoran on December 22nd 2017.
The court was told the victim had parked his car in a car park in Omeath and was waiting for it to be collected to be cleaned, when he saw the defendant in the driver's seat of a blue BMW which was also parked nearby.
The injured party was speaking to a man who was changing a tyre on his own car and when he went to steer towards the exit he heard “What are you looking at? You’re a wee tramp”.
He then heard the wheels of a car spinning and he was rammed from behind, and his car was pushed from the mouth of the car park entrance onto the main road. Over €4,000 in damage was caused to the vehicle.
The defendant took off at speed towards Newry.
Gardai who received the report of the initial incident, were later told that the defendant was seen outside the pub carrying a chainsaw and while nobody was prepared to make a statement, CCTV was checked.
The injured party in his victim impact report said he’s “terrified of his life” of the defendant and if another vehicle had been on the road that day, he “might have been badly hurt if not killed” and he’s now nervous of cars being behind him.
In relation to the chainsaw incident, the Defence barrister also pointed out there was no chain attached to the equipment at the time.
The court heard the defendant, who had 30 previous convictions, moved with his family to Omeath from Belfast to escape the Troubles, and having self-referred to Merchants Quay Ireland last October, is currently engaged in attending prison-based AA and NA meetings.
Judge Dara Hayes further remanded him in custody to May fourth for finalization.