A court has heard how an Ennis man told a parish priest he would cut his throat in the grounds of the town’s Cathedral.
At Ennis District Court yesterday, Judge Patrick Durcan jailed 37-year-old Jamie O’Connor for three months for the assault on Fr Tom Hogan on March 22nd last.
In a statement to Gardaí, Fr Hogan he was was fearful for his own safety in a way that he has never been before during his 20 years in the town.
Ennis District Court has heard that at around 6:30 pm on March 22nd last, Fr Tom Hogan came into the Cathedral grounds and saw three homeless people including Jamie O’Connor.
Fr Hogan went about his business when minutes later, Mr O’Connor burst through the door of the church and tackled him, hurled abuse and threatened to cut his throat.
Insp Tom Kennedy told the court that Mr O’Connor had been living in a nearby tent in the church grounds for the previous three months, which Fr Hogan had asked him to remove, as there were works being carried out by a contractor.
He said Fr Hogan and a caretaker then removed the tent and stored Mr O’Connor’s belongings.
The Inspector said that when Mr O’Connor confronted Fr Hogan over the tent removal, he prevented Fr Hogan from putting the key in the door of the priests’ house, 10 metres from the church.
The court heard Mr O’Connor placed his hand very forcibly on the upper arm of Fr Hogan, who was very fearful he was going to be punched and harmed and that this went on for a number of minutes.
Another priest, Fr Ger Fitzgerald, arrived on the scene and defused the situation by placing his arms around Mr O’Connor and physically removing him from the area before calling Gardaí.
Judge Patrick Durcan imposed a three month prison term, back-dated to March 28th, and also banned Mr O’Connor from the the Cathedral and its environs for two years.