Courts

Man (46) who threatened his mother that he would ‘put teeth down her throat’ is jailed

Gavin Mitchell appeared before Letterkenny District Court charged with a range of thefts as well as breaching a safety order

Solicitor for the accused told the court that his client has suffered with addiction since his adolescence
Stephen Maguire
Fri Sept 06 2024 - 11:04

A Donegal man who threatened his mother that he would “put her teeth down her throat” has been jailed for a year.

Gavin Mitchell appeared before Letterkenny District Court charged with a range of thefts as well as having a hammer in his possession in a public place and breaching a safety order.

The 46-year-old, who is originally from Letterkenny, is now of no fixed abode and is in custody in Castlerea Prison.

Mitchell pleaded guilty to five counts of theft.

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The court heard how on dates between January 2021 and June 2023, Mitchell stole various amounts of cash, ranging between €10 to €200, as well as alcohol.

The court heard how on October 9th, 2023 at Lower Main Street in Letterkenny, gardaí found Mitchell in possession of a hammer and was threatening to use it on other people present. The offence is contrary to the Section 9 (5) Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act, 1990.

Mitchell also pleaded guilty to the theft of a phone, valued at €300 and a bottle of alcohol from Tesco, Letterkenny Shopping Centre.

The court was also told Mitchell contravened a safety order on three occasions at Windmill View, Letterkenny.

On one occasion Mitchell attended the home of his mother in a highly intoxicated state and was aggressive to her, threatening to “shut her up or put her teeth down her throat”.

The court heard how on another occasion, Mitchell’s mother had reported to gardaí that her son had acted in an aggressive manner towards her and had threatened to use a hammer.

Mitchell has 67 previous convictions, the vast majority of which are under the Theft Act, the court was told.

Solicitor for the accused, Mr Frank Dorrian, told the court that his client has suffered with addiction since his adolescence.

“My client’s brother passed away in January of this year after falling from a roof,” he said.

“His death has had a profound impact on my client. He and his brother were homeless. They had been sleeping in a multi storey car park and in the tubular slides in a playground at one point.

“He tells me all of the offences were committed as a result of poverty. He was taking a synthetic drug called Spice.”

Passing sentence, Judge Eiteain Cunningham sentenced Mitchell to six months in prison on Section 33 of the Domestic Violence Act after he breached a safety order and also six months on one of the theft charges and ordered that both charges should run consecutively.