A man threatened to kill his estranged wife's family members and throw acid in her sister's face in a series of WhatsApp voice notes, a court has heard.
By making the threats, the 29-year-year man, who can't be named for legal reasons, was also intimidating two court witnesses - including his wife's brother who he is accused of sexually abusing - Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard today.
He and his wife were separated at the time but have since reconciled, John Barnes BL, prosecuting, told the court.
The Dublin man pleaded guilty to seven counts, including making threats to kill or cause serious harm to his brother-in-law, father-in-law and sister-in-law, making threats to damage two properties and two counts of intimidating a witness with the intention of obstructing justice. All of the offending took place on January 19th, 2022.
He has nine previous convictions including arson and robbery.
The man is currently before the Central Criminal Court in relation to a sexual assault allegation against his brother-in-law and his father-in-law is a witness in that case, the court heard.
Garda Patrick Browne told the court that on the day in question, the man sent his estranged wife a series of voice messages in which he said he was going to throw acid on her sister's face and make her look like “Freddy Krueger” and that he would be “up on a murder charge” in relation to her father and her brother.
“I'm going to go to the UK after I rip out one of their throats,” the man said, before adding he hoped the woman would send their kids over for an occasional visit. He also said he would petrol bomb one of her relative's homes and go through one of their houses with his Jeep.
In the course of the messages, the man also said he would love to get back with his wife, but he knew that wasn't possible and he wished her a happy life.
The woman alerted gardaí who downloaded the messages from her phone. The man was on bail at the time for previous offences and has been in custody since a few days after this incident.
In mitigation, Justin McQuade BL, defending, said his client had a number of children with his wife. He left school early with no formal qualifications. Alcohol and pill addiction was a big feature of the case, the court heard, and the man has a history of mental health issues and depression.
Judge Martina Baxter said she would order a Probation Services report in order to get some “introspection and reflection” from the man. She adjourned the matter for sentencing on October 9th.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/, or visit Rape Crisis Help.
