Man apologises for threating TD Paul Murphy's wife
A man who threatened Dublin South-West TD Paul Murphy with slitting his wife's throat has been spared trial after apologising and citing a psychotic episode.
Dublin District Court had sought fitness-to-plead psychiatric reports on 42-year-old Joseph Cloherty and his non-jury hearing was expected to go ahead today.
Cloherty, of no fixed address, had earlier indicated that he would contest the charge, requiring Deputy Murphy to come to court and testify.
However, Judge John Hughes was told that the prosecution was not proceeding and applying to withdraw the case.
The judge noted that this followed a letter from Cloherty to Mr Murphy, apologising to both him and his wife, Councillor Jessica Spear, and explaining that the incident happened when he was going through a psychotic episode.
The apology was acceptable to the TD, who was not required to give evidence and left the court as Judge Hughes struck out the proceedings.
Defence solicitor Emer O'Sullivan also furnished a medical report on her client, who pleaded guilty to unrelated public order offences, resulting in a one-month suspended sentence.
Cloherty had nine prior convictions, mainly public order and motoring offences.
The threatening encounter with Mr Murphy occurred after the TD canvassed about abortion laws in Tallaght in Dublin on 23 May 2023.
Cloherty faced a charge under section 5 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.
He was accused of having, without a lawful excuse, made a threat to Mr Murphy, intending him to believe it would be carried out that he would kill or cause serious harm to Ms Spear.
Earlier, the court heard that Cloherty had been hospitalised involuntarily.
A preliminary hearing in January was told that he denied that he threatened the politician to his face that his wife would be seriously harmed.
Ms Spear is a People Before Profit councillor for Tallaght Central.
The Director of Public Prosecutions directed summary disposal of the case at district court level.
Outlining the evidence, Garda Elaine Markham said that the TD had set up a stall at Belgard Square.
He was giving out leaflets about a pro-abortion bill when the accused allegedly "walked up to Paul Murphy and threatened to slit his wife's throat".
Gardaí took statements from Cllr Spear and Deputy Murphy.
"That's a lie," Cloherty had told the court after it heard a summary of the evidence.
He said: "They were talking about killing babies".
On conviction, the threat could have led to a fine and a 12-month sentence.
Sergeant Nigel Petrie gave evidence on the two remaining unconnected offences - the use of threatening, abusive, insulting behaviour in public and resisting arrest on 9 January.
Sgt Petrie said he spoke to Cloherty near Royal Canal Bank in Dublin and was about to arrest him over a warrant.
Cloherty angrily shouted: "You have now entered the arena; you don't know what you've just done".
He resisted handcuffing the accused or putting him into a patrol car, but the sergeant volunteered that it ranked at two or three out of ten in terms of seriousness.
He stressed that Cloherty subsequently sought him out to apologise, adding that he is a very different man from the agitated person he met on the date of the arrest.
Ms O'Sullivan, pleading for leniency, said that her client was in homeless accommodation but goes to his mother's house every day.
She and Cloherty's brother-in-law came to court and the solicitor emphasised that he had family support and was now on antipsychotic medication.
Noting his apology, medical report and mitigation plea, Judge Hughes suspended the one-month term on condition he does not reoffend for two years, stays off cocaine and cannabis, and continues to attend appointments with a mental health professional and follow their directions.
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