Jury deliberating verdict in trial of man charged with threatening to kill Limerick Garda

Kieran 'Bunny' Barry was acquitted of charges around the alleged threats to kill Detective Landers. Photo: Brendan Gleeson.

A JURY has retired to consider verdicts in the trial of a man accused of drugs charges and of threatening to kill or cause serious harm to a Limerick Garda Detective.

Kieran โ€˜Bunnyโ€™ Barry (51), with an address at Galvone Road, Kennedy Park, denies threatening to kill or seriously harm Detective Garda Dean Landers on May 3, 2019.

Mr Barry also denies charges of possession of cannabis for sale or supply, possession of cannabis, and of resisting Detective Landers in executing his lawful duties on the same date.

Following a three-day trial at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court, a jury of eight women and four men retired this Tuesday to deliberate on its verdicts.

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Detective Landers gave evidence that he was concerned for himself and his family after Mr Barry allegedly threatened to kill him, his children, and his mother.

โ€œI was worried, Iโ€™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,โ€ Detective Landers said.

Detective Landers and a colleague had responded to a call of a disturbance outside Mr Barryโ€™s home on the night in question. Mr Barry became abusive and asked Garda Landers to fight, the court heard.

โ€œHe 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,โ€ Detective Landers alleged.

โ€œHe continued getting enraged, gesturing and pointing towards me, and he told me, โ€˜I know where you live, you lanky prickโ€™. He got more aggressive and agitated.โ€

โ€œHe 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.โ€

โ€œHe (Mr Barry) 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.โ€

When more Gardaรญ arrived at the scene, Mr Barry ran into his home, locked the front door, and fled through the rear of the property, Detective Landers said.

Later on that night, Gardaรญ observed Mr Barry sitting on a couch in the front living room of his home and they entered the property and arrested him.

Detective Landers alleged that when he entered the front room, Mr Barry โ€œran straight at me and again he said, โ€˜Iโ€™m going to f*****g kill youโ€™.โ€

Detective Landers said he identified himself as โ€œarmed Gardaรญโ€ and he gave Mr Barry โ€œa short burstโ€ of pepper spray into his eyes to incapacitate him.

Detective Landers said he observed โ€œsmall plastic baggie vacuum bags and a small quantity of cannabis herb on the couch where Mr Barry had been sittingโ€ and that these items were seized as part of the investigation.

He said it took a number of Gardaรญ to restrain Mr Barry when the pepper spray โ€œdidnโ€™t really take full effectโ€. However, Garda Landers disagreed with suggestions by Mr Barryโ€™s barristers, Andrew Sexton SC and Amy Nix BL, instructed by solicitor Sarah Ryan, that Gardaรญ had โ€œbeatenโ€ and โ€œdraggedโ€ Mr Barry out of his house while he was being arrested.

Mr Barry, who admitted being intoxicated on the night, told Gardaรญ following his arrest that he โ€œhad wordsโ€ with Detective Landers.

Mr Barry acknowledged that he had asked Garda Landers to fight on the night, but he denied making threats against him and his family, and he described the allegations as โ€œb****cksโ€ and โ€œa trumped up crock of s***eโ€.