Man: If I carry a gun gardaí will shoot me

A Co Cork man threatened to carry a shotgun on the city’s MacCurtain St in an attempt to get himself killed by drawing the fire of armed gardaí. He was remanded in custody.

Judge David Riordan gave a direction to prison authorities to have Jack Ahern, 20, medically examined. The judge also directed that the prison authorities would assist in the attempt by the defence to have a psychiatric report prepared.

Det Sgt Vincent O’Sullivan arrested Ahern and brought him before Judge David Riordan yesterday at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, and applied to have bail revoked.

Ahern had been granted bail in February last pending sentence on April 27 for an armed robbery at Cash Connectors on MacCurtain St. In that crime, he had arrived in the store with a double-barrel shotgun and told a member of staff to fill a holdall bag with assorted jewellery.

Ahern, formerly of 86 Mount Rivers, Carrigaline, had pleaded guilty to the robbery of €43,000 worth of jewellery on March 29, 2014.

Det Sgt O’Sullivan said Ahern had been put out of the family home because of his behaviour.

Last February, defence barrister Ray Boland had applied for sentencing to be adjourned. Mr Boland said an unusual aspect of the case was Ahern had been told to carry out the crime by a person he had associated with.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin, at the time, agreed to adjourn sentencing until April 27 with the accused on bail, and a psychiatric report was to be prepared on Ahern.

Meanwhile, yesterday, Det Sgt O’Sullivan had a number of grounds for his application to have Ahern’s bail revoked.

Firstly, it was alleged on March 9 last, Ahern was involved in assaulting a young woman by punching her three or four times in the face, breaking her nose.

On March 22, gardaí were called to the defendant’s home where it was alleged he was self-harming by cutting his own wrists.

It was alleged he refused to be seen by paramedics and told gardaí of his intention to arm himself with a shotgun and walk along MacCurtain St in the hope that armed gardaí from the Regional Support Unit would be forced to fire upon him.

Judge Riordan yesterday said the latter allegation was serious from the point of view of the gardaí and the general public, as well as for the accused himself. Donal McCarthy, barrister, represented the accused yesterday and said Ahern knew he was facing a jail sentence in April and wanted to be out on bail until then to put his affairs in order.

Judge Riordan said that the accused would have to be remanded in custody until his sentencing hearing on April 27. He said the prison authorities should be notified of the background matters raised in court yesterday in relation to his frame of mind

The judge also said Ahern should be medically examined on his reception at prison.

Frank Nyhan, state solicitor, noted the original remand on bail from February had been for the purpose of the defence obtaining a psychiatric report on the accused.