Two men who terrified a man and made “vile threats” against him and his mother over a drug debt have been jailed for various offences.
Peter McHale (38) and Robert O’Rourke (30) came forward on signed pleas of guilty from the District Court to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in relation to burglary, demanding money with menace, false imprisonment, threats to kill and money laundering.
Additionally, O’Rourke pleaded guilty to the production of a screwdriver. The offences occurred between mid-March and April 11th, 2023.
O’Rourke’s partner Nicole Munson (30) pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to money laundering in that she allowed her Revolut account to be used so that the victim’s mother could transfer €5,000 to it.
O’Rourke of The Park, Semple Wood, Donabate, Dublin, was jailed for five and half years after Judge Martin Nolan said he was the “more serious actor” in the case.
McHale of St Cronans Court, Swords, Dublin, was jailed for five years.
Munson, also of The Park, Semple Wood, Donabate, Dublin, received a fully suspended sentence of three and half years.
Detective Garda Ross Brierly told Derek Cooney BL, prosecuting, that the victim was threatened various times and told that he would be cut up so his daughter would not recognise him and that the men would call to his mother’s home and kick her to death.
The drug debt began at €1,500 but escalated continually when it was not paid. His mother transferred €2,000 and then €3,000 to Munson’s Revolut account, but the demands for cash continued escalating to the men demanding €26,000.
Det Garda Brierly said that on April 11th, the victim received hundreds of phone calls before he heard a commotion outside his apartment door.
McHale and O’Rourke broke into the man’s home and held him there for about four hours, during which he was threatened, and a screwdriver was produced by O’Rourke.
The man was terrified, and McHale and O’Rourke continued to put demands on him for cash.
At one point, the man rang an American friend he had recently reconnected with, in an attempt to secure money.
He also called his former partner and told her what was going on. She said she would be able to get him some money, but she also contacted the gardaí.
O’Rourke left the house to attend the funeral of Munson’s grandmother. McHale was still in the house when gardaí arrived.
The court heard that Munson admitted receiving the money, transferring it into another account, withdrawing the cash, and handing it over to O’Rourke. McHale was in the car with them on that trip to the bank.
A victim impact statement was prepared and handed into the court but not read aloud.
Det Garda Brierly said that from the Garda point of view, O’Rourke was the organiser of the offence, and McHale was in the “lower tier”.
Judge Nolan said his first instinct was to jail Munson as she had involved herself in the offence. “She knew where the money came from and how it was collected. She was morally culpable.”
“I feel she should go to prison, but I am going to stay my hand because of the impact a sentence would have on her children. I don’t think justice demands an immediate custodial term,” Judge Nolan said.
Judge Nolan said McHale and O’Rourke had decided to try and recover this drug debt, and there was pressure placed on the victim to get that money.
“They made his life totally miserable and terrified the poor man. They made the most vile threats against him and threatened his mother,” the judge said.
“They wanted their money, and they were prepared to terrify him to get this money,” he continued before he added that the victim feared for his life and that of his mother.
He said it was a very distressing crime, and this was “very culpable behaviour on behalf of both of them”.
Judge Nolan acknowledged that both men had signed pleas of guilty in the District Court and accepted that O’Rourke had no previous convictions and that while McHale has a few previous convictions, the judge said they were “mostly on the minor end of the spectrum”.
He further acknowledged that both men had family responsibilities and had “good sides to their character”, as evidenced in their testimonials.
“These are serious crimes, and the context is serious – the drug situation. I accept that they have their own pressures, but their own mistakes led them into that,” Judge Nolan said.
Seamus Clarke SC, defending Munson, said his client was O’Rourke’s partner, and they have five children together.
He asked the court to accept that she had only pleaded guilty to money laundering.
She had saved €1,000 as a token of her remorse towards the victim.
Damien Colgan SC, defending O’Rourke, said that although his client was considered to be in charge of the operation there were people higher up that were also putting pressure on him.
He had written a letter of apology to the victim who he had previously been friends with.
Counsel said O’Rourke had no intention of carrying out the threats.
Paul Comiskey O’Keeffe BL, defending McHale, said his client was a chronic abuser of alcohol and drugs but came from a law-abiding family. He has four children with his partner, who was in court to support him.
He became involved as he had a debt himself, but counsel accepted that it was a sinister crime.
