Man who assaulted sister and threatened to shoot her and husband is jailed

A father-of-two who assaulted his sister and later threatened to shoot her and her husband has been jailed for 21 months.

Christopher Maguire (42) of Moatview Close, Priorswood, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to production of an article, assault and making threats to kill or cause serious harm at Killester Avenue, Killester, on May 10, 2019.

He also pleaded guilty to two counts of intimidating a witness at Harry Byrne's public house, Howth Road, Clontarf, on September 6, 2019. His previous convictions include convictions for false imprisonment and possession of drugs for sale or supply.

Dective Garda Anthony O'Shea told Garrett McCormack BL, prosecuting, that on the date in May, gardaí­ arrived at Maguire's father's house and were met by his sister Nicola Byrne, who told them she had lost a nail on her right hand in a scuffle with her brother.

Det Gda O’Shea said the scuffle had been over an argument relating to Ms Byrne taking Maguire’s phone. By the time gardaí­ arrived, Maguire’s father had convinced him to hand over a kitchen knife he had produced during the dispute.

While being arrested, Maguire made threats to David Byrne, his brother-in-law, saying he would “have you taken care of, I’ll cut the hair off your head”.

As he was being led from the house, Maguire said he needed to grab something first, reached into a sofa and said “sawn-off shotgun”. Maguire was not in fact holding a gun and gardaí­ believed this was “probably a nasty joke”.

Maguire was brought to a garda station where he was charged with the offences before being released on bail.

Garda Ciaran McCabe told Mr McCormack that on the date in September, Maguire entered the pub and told his sister he had purchased a gun “from colleagues he knew” and that he planned to kill himself unless she dropped the charges.

Gda McCabe said that he later spotted Mr Byrne in the pub and threatened to shoot him and Ms Byrne. When he was later arrested by gardaí­ he was found to be in possession of a Stanley knife.

The court heard that in 2018, Maguire received a three year suspended sentence in the Special Criminal Court for false imprisonment dating back to June 2015.

Det Gda O’Shea agreed with John Moher BL, defending, that his client sustained serious injuries in 2016 during an incident in which he was shot numerous times, including being shot in the head.

Mr Moher said his client began to abuse crack cocaine following the shooting. He said his client has two adult children with whom he has no contact and has been involved in dog breeding in the past.

Judge Martin Nolan said it seemed Maguire could not let the situation lie and threatened his sister and her husband. He said these were “credible threats” which were taken seriously “for good reason”.

“It seems this defendant is a serious man who has a serious effect on people,” Judge Nolan said.

Judge Nolan sentenced Maguire to six months imprisonment for the earlier offences. He also sentenced Maguire to 15 months imprisonment for the latter offences and ordered that the sentences run consecutively for an effective sentence of 21 months imprisonment.