A 19-year-old Limerick man at the centre of a collapsed murder trial has been jailed for four months for public order offences outside the city's courthouse.
Liam Keane, of Singland Gardens, Ballysimon, Limerick, was charged with threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour at Merchant's Quay, Limerick, on November 26th.
He was also charged with failing to comply with a direction of a member of An Garda Síochána on the same date.
Sgt Séamus Nolan told Limerick District Court yesterday that Keane was on the steps of the courthouse when a party known to the accused came out of the building.
On the steps of the court, Keane shouted a number of serious threats regarding the man's personal safety, the court heard.
Sgt Nolan called on Keane - who, he said, had no business being outside the court - to stop making the threats, and told the other man to go back inside the building.
However, the threats continued and Keane ran off in the direction of Nicholas Street.
Defence Solicitor Mr Ted McCarthy said his client had admitted the offences and claimed he had reacted to a gesture that was made towards him.
"He does not seek to justify this in any way. He should have known better and he accepts that," he said.
The court also heard from gardaí that Keane had a number of previous convictions - the bulk of them for public order offences.
He had been given a three-month suspended sentence for a breach of the Public Order Act just three weeks before the November 26th offence, the court heard.
Mr McCarthy asked Judge Tom O'Donnell to take into account that his client had not been in trouble since the last offence and that he had pleaded guilty.
Judge O'Donnell said Keane had been offered a lifeline on a previous occasion and had still ended up back in court.
"I find your client's attitude unacceptable. He was given a chance and he refused to take it," said the judge.
Judge O'Donnell sentenced Keane to three months' imprisonment on the charge of threatening behaviour.
He jailed him for four months on the charge of failing to comply with the garda's directive, with both sentences to run concurrently.
Keane walked free from a murder trial at the Central Criminal Court on November 3rd after the case against him collapsed in controversial fashion.
The case collapsed when several prosecution witnesses denied making statements to gardaí identifying Keane as the killer of 19-year-old Eric Leamy.
Keane had denied the murder, which took place at Lee Estate, Limerick, on August 28th, 2001.