A CLONAKILTY man who threatened to ‘kick the sh*t’ out of his neighbour if he saw him walking down the street and who also took a car without the owner’s consent has been sentenced to 12 months in prison. James Williamson (32) of 39 Parkview, Clonakilty pleaded guilty at the local court to unlawfully taking a car and using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour and driving without insurance or a driving licence.
Sgt Tom Mulcahy told the court that that at 3.30am on July 28th last year gardaí in Clonakilty responded to call of the unlawful taking of a car. The injured party told gardaí that a male had entered his house and stole the keys to his jeep.
‘At 4.50am the stolen jeep was seen driving near Moses Road and at 4.54am they saw the defendant taking off his seat belt and entering a field. Gda Joe Grimes attempted to enter the maize field but there was a dyke between then,’ said Sgt Mulcahy.The court heard that gardaí were unable to locate him and he was eventually arrested on September 3rd 2022 in relation to the offence.
A second incident occurred on September 20th 2022 when the defendant stood in the garden of a neighbour’s house at 9am. He told him he would ‘kick the sh*t’ out of him if he saw him walking the street and would break every bone in his body if he ever saw him in prison.
The court heard that Mr Williamson has 28 previous convictions, including eight for public order and four for criminal damage.
Defence solicitor Eamonn Fleming said his client is a father of five children and is separated from their mother. He said Mr Williamson has a long history of mental health issues of varying degrees.
‘Alcohol can cause him to break the law recklessly. He is currently serving a prison sentence for offences which occurred in Mallow. He regrets his actions and has held his hands up,’ said Mr Fleming.
Judge James McNulty said the defendant is ‘racking up a lot of convictions’ including threats to kill. He convicted and sentenced the defendant to a total of 12 months in prison for the unlawful taking of the car and the public order offence.
The judge also convicted him of driving without insurance and sentenced him to five months, which is to be served concurrently to the other sentences. He took into consideration other charges, including not having a driving licence and failing to appear in court.
