Man jailed for attempted murder of brother-in-law

A Dublin man was today jailed for 12 years by a judge at the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin for attempting to murder his brother-in-law.

Mr Justice Paul Carney said that he had been unable to find anything in favour of Charles Darcy, who fired a semi-automatic pistol twice at his brother-in-law, Patrick Collins’, head.

Charles Darcy (aged 21), of Crumlin Park, Crumlin was convicted by a jury last June of the attempted murder of Mr Collins at Cooley Road, Drimnagh on August 31, 2008. He was also found guilty of aggravated burglary.

Mr Justice Carney said that the case was "of the highest order of gravity".

He said that Darcy had tried to assassinate his brother-in-law and only failed because the gun jammed twice. He had also forced his sister to give evidence against him to "her deep distress".

The judge said that Mr Collins had been forced into exile from Drimnagh and from the country, as well as his wife, mother and father and three children.

The judge said that Darcy had invented "a cock and bull" alibi for himself and had shown no sign of remorse.

He sentenced him to 12 years for the attempted murder and five years for the burglary and ordered both sentences to run concurrently and to date from September 13 last year.

An earlier court hearing was told that Darcy 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.

The court heard that in a victim impact statement 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 Patrick’s Institution when he tried to shot Mr Collins.