A DETECTIVE Garda gave a harrowing account in a court this Wednesday evening of how he was left afraid for himself and his family after a man allegedly threatened to murder him, his children, and his mother.
Garda Dean landers, of Roxboro Road Garda Station, said: “I was worried, I’ve been in Limerick 13 years and a Garda for 15 years, but he looked me in the eyes and told me he was going to murder me, and I 100 per cent believed him.”
Detective Garda Landers claimed in court that the accused man Kieran ‘Bunny’ Barry threatened to kill him and members of his family after he arrived at Mr Barry’s house in response to an alert about an alleged dispute between a group of people on May 3, 2019.
Mr Barry (51), of Galvone Road, Kennedy Park, went on trial today (Wednesday) before Limerick Circuit Criminal Court accused of four offences.
Mr Barry has denied four alleged offences, including that he threatened to kill or cause serious harm to Detective Garda Dean Landers, that he was in possession of cannabis for sale or supply, that he was in possession of cannabis, and that he resisted Det Gda Landers in executing his duties on the night.
Detective Garda Landers told the court that Mr Barry asked him for a “fight” after he and a colleague arrived at the scene at around 9pm on the night.
“He escalated these threats further, he told me he was going to murder me and that the next time he caught me on my own he was going to slash my head off.
“He said he would bury me somewhere where no one would find me.
“He continued getting enraged, gesturing and pointing towards me, and he told me ‘I know where you live, you lanky prick’.
“He got more aggressive and agitated, he was clenching his fists and he told me he was going to give me a slow death and that he would give my kids an even slower one.
“He continued on after that and he said that, once he was finished with me, he was going to call to my mother and he was going to f**k her and strangle her.”
Detective Garda Landers showed the court with his own hands what Mr Barry was doing as he was allegedly making these threats, saying that “while he was doing this he had his two hands out in a strangling motion and he was gyrating his hips”.
“He was acting out what he was going to or threatening to do, he was moving (his hips) forwards and backwards in a motion that would imply or try to suggest what he was going to do to my mother.
“After that, he told me to look him straight into his eyes, and he said, ‘look at me, I am going to murder you’.
“We were waiting for Garda assistance, we didn’t engage with him, he was still very violent.”
Detective Landers further alleged in his evidence that when Mr Barry saw a Garda van driving towards the scene he “turned and ran into his house” and “fled” through the rear of the property.
Detective Landers said he and a number of Garda colleagues returned to Mr Barry’s house around 11pm and observed the accused sitting on a couch inside the front of the house.
Detective Landers, who was armed with his official Garda issued handgun, said Mr Barry ran at him inside the front room after he entered the room and identified himself as “armed Gardaí”.
“He ran straight at me … He said ‘I’m going to f**king kill you’.”
Detective Garda Landers said he deployed pepper spray at Mr Barry giving him “a short burst across both eyes to incapacitate him and make it easier to effect the arrest”.
“I can use it when there is a threat to life or to my safety,” he told the court.
Detective Garda Landers said Mr Barry “was still enraged, it didn’t really take full effect” so another colleague assisted him and another Garda “in trying to get him (the accused) onto the ground while he lashed out until we got him handcuffed”.
Detective Landers said he observed “small plastic baggie vacuum bags and a small quantity of cannabis herb on the couch where Mr Barry had been sitting”.
Gardaí seized the drugs, valued at €200, plastic bags, and other “drug paraphernalia”, including a weighing scales.
When asked by prosecuting barrister John O’Sullivan how he felt at hearing the alleged threats against him and his family, Detective Garda Landers replied: “I was in shock, it was disturbing.”
“He (Mr Barry) acted it out in front of me and he gave me concern as well that he seemed to know an awful lot about my personal life in relation to me having kids, and then he told me he knew where I lived.
“When he preceded to act out exactly what he wanted to do to my mother, it wasn’t very nice.”
Detective Landers said that at no stage did he draw his licenced handgun, adding: “It’s something I hope I never use.”
The trial continues before a jury of eight women four men tomorrow.