A man who threatened to kill a social worker because she had been involved in a court case in which his young relative was taken into care has received a 'positive' probation report and will be sentenced in September.
The 56-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the child, appeared before Cork District Court on Wednesday having pleaded guilty to making death threats to the woman.
The social worker previously gave a victim impact statement in relation to the incident. She said that she "froze with fear" when she received phone calls from the accused in May 2023.
"After a long day at work and on my journey home I received several voice messages, the volume of which, in close succession, led me to conclude that someone may need support or assistance. So I sat in my car before I went home to listen to them," she said.
"I froze with fear as each message played out. When you hear ‘I’m going to end your life’ several times, expressed with such anger, there was a visceral response in my body. My stomach turned, and I froze – possibly an hour passed before I could go...home and greet my family."
Det Garda David Barry previously told Judge Mary Dorgan that the man became extremely irate after the Tusla employed social worker was involved in obtaining an order to remove his young relative from his home.
Det Garda Barry said that the man approached the woman outside a courthouse in Cork on April 3rd, 2023 and began waving his arms in her face in an angry manner.
He said that just over a month later the man phoned the social water and left a series of threatening messages.
In the first message, he called the Tusla employee a liar and threatened to "blow her up". He then called back and left a message warning that he would kill her. In his third message he warned that she had taken something from him and that now he was going to do the same to her.
In the fourth and final message he again threatened to kill the woman, saying that "you can do what you want, you can record it, you s**t, but I’m telling you, I am going to take your life."
The man pleaded guilty to four offences. These included assaulting the woman at Washington Street Courthouse on April 3rd, 2023. He also pleaded guilty that on May 9th, 2023 at a place unknown in Cork city, he made persistent phone calls to the social worker without reasonable cause.
He also pleaded guilty to two counts of making threats to kill or cause serious harm to the woman on the evening of May 9th, 2023.
The man was subsequently arrested in May of last year. He made full admissions to gardaí and expressed his remorse at what had occurred. He also entered a guilty plea.
Defence solicitor Daithi Ó Donnabháin told the court on Wednesday that his client had received a "positive" probation report. The report was handed in to Judge Dorgan for her consideration.
She adjourned the case for finalisation on September 25th next. The man was remanded on continuing bail until his next court appearance.
Mr Ó Donnabháin previously told the court that his client was engaging in a restorative justice project. Judge Dorgan said that it was "perfectly understandable" that the impacted party had declined an invitation to meet with the man as part of the programme.
Mr Ó Donnabháin had previously informed the judge his client was acting as a parent for the child who was taken into care and was deeply upset over his removal. On the day he phoned the social worker, he had been drinking heavily. He claimed he had no recollection of making the threatening phone calls.
