A man who threatened to kill his estranged wife at her new home in Swords and led gardaí on a high-speed car chase with his seven-year-old son in the back seat through north Dublin, has received a four-year suspended sentence.
Charlie O'Neill (44), of Balcurris Road, Ballymun, picked up a knife in his wife's kitchen during an argument and told her: "I'll put this in your head."
Judge Patricia Ryan said the incident arose in the context of a family breakdown which was a very sad occasion for O'Neill.
Judge Ryan banned him from driving for one year and ordered him to perform 100 hours of community service.
O'Neill pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to threatening to kill Barbara O'Neill on January 5th, 2005, and also to criminal damage, reckless endangerment and dangerous driving on December 30th, 2004.
Det Sgt Cormac Brennan told Seán Guerin, prosecuting, that O'Neill lived with his wife for over 20 years before the relationship broke down. He had gone to her new home in Swords on December 30th, 2004, to see their seven-year-old son and had a row with her before leaving with the boy.
O'Neill then rang his wife from the car saying he would not return their son. She called gardaí, who spotted O'Neill's car at traffic lights on the Finglas Road. When asked to pull over, he took off at high speed.
Det Sgt Brennan said O'Neill drove at speeds up to 100 miles per hour, broke seven sets of red lights and overtook traffic on the wrong side of the road. His child was in the back of the car throughout the 11-minute chase.