I will shoot you dead, Limerick bus driver told
Thomas O’Neill, aged 28, of Lenihan Avenue, Prospect, Limerick, has pleaded not guilty at Limerick Circuit Court to a charge of threatening to kill or cause serious harm to Liam Casey on November 17, 2015.
Mr Casey, in evidence, said he left his home at Hyde Road, Prospect, with a granddaughter to bring groceries to his daughter who lived nearby. As his freezer was full, he was transferring items to his daughter’s freezer.
On arrival, at around 6pm, he parked his car and his granddaughter took the groceries from the back seat and went to the front door. He saw three men walking down the road, the accused, his brother, and another man. The window of his car was down, as he was smoking.
As the three passed, Mr O’Neill said to him: ‘Ye are going to get fixed, going to get it tonight. I will shoot you dead, shoot you fucking dead’. The witness said: “I was frightened for my life as he is known for that.”
Mr Casey left Byrne Avenue and tried to flag down a passing garda squad car. He proceeded to Roxboro Garda Station and made a complaint.
In reply to Brian McInerney, defending, Mr Casey said he was nervous and worried. When it was put to him that he had stated previously he was not worried, Mr Casey said: “I was worried. That is why I went to the guards. I would not be sitting here today if I was not worried.”
The witness said he was in no doubt about who made the threat and there was no possibility one of the other two could have made it. He had gone to the gardaí straight away, he said, as he was frightened.
In a statement to gardaí, he stated he knew the accused had meant the threats and he feared for his, and his family’s, life.
The trial before Judge Tom O’Donnell and a jury of seven men and five women continues.
