Detective told house ‘would be burned down’

A Limerick-based detective was told he would be killed and his house burned down, arising from a late-night garda raid on the home of an accused, a court heard.

Darren O’Halloran, aged 31, of Aurea Cottage, Dublin Rd, Limerick, has pleaded not guilty at Limerick Circuit Court to charges of threatening to kill detective garda Pat Whelan and threatening to burn down his house.

John O’Sullivan, prosecuting, opening the case to a jury of eight men and four women said it was alleged that Det Gda Whelan was among a party of gardaí who went to the address of the accused on March 29, 2015, and left some time after 2.35am. As he left, it is alleged that the accused made a remark to Det Gda Whelan about being on a white horse clip-clopping at Christmas time through a village near to where he lived.