Man to be sentenced next month for attempting to shoot brother-in-law

A young Dublin man, found guilty of attempting to shoot his brother-in-law, will by sentenced by the Central Criminal Court next month.

Charlie Darcy (aged 21), of Crumlin Park, Crumlin said “you’re dead” as he put a pistol to the head of Patrick Collins, who was lying in bed his wife, Linda, and their two-week-old daughter at the time.

Darcy twice tried to fire the weapon but it jammed, allowing Mr Collins time to run from the house and hide in a neighbours’ garden.

Darcy denied attempting to murder Mr Collins, at Cooley Road, Drimnagh, on August 31, 2008.

The Central Criminal Court today heard victim impact statements, read by prosecuting counsel John Aylmer S.C, on behalf of Patrick and Linda Collins.

Mr Collins said the events of that night had forced him and his family to move abroad to begin a new life in England. He said he would “never return to Drimnagh” and that the incident had left him “nervous and wary”, often waking during the night “worrying about what had happened”.

Linda Collins, a mother of three young children, told of the devastating effect the incident had had on her family, and said her “life would never be the same again”.

Ms Collins said it was a particularly difficult experience to give evidence against her own brother but that she did so in the interests of her husband and children.

Garda Aidan Shaughnessy told the court that Darcy had a string of previous convictions dating back a number of years, and that he had only recently been released from a four-year sentence in St Patricks Institution when he tried to shot Mr Collins.

Sean Gillane S.C, for the defence, said Darcy had spent “a huge chunk of his young life in custody”, and that while this was a most serious offence, he asked the court not to “shut the door on him”.

Mr. Justice Paul Carney remanded Darcy in custody to be sentenced on November 25.