A Castlebar man has been jailed for seven months for two incidents, including spitting on a garda and threatening to rape a shop owner’s wife and burn down his premises.

Terry McDonagh (30) of 56, An Srúthan, Castlebar, was before Castlebar District Court on Wednesday last facing four charges.

After he entered a guilty plea, two charges were withdrawn, leaving Mr McDonagh to face two charges, Section 2 assault and Section 6 Public Order (threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour in a public place).

The two charges that were withdrawn were both for intoxication in a public place (Section 4 Public Order).

With regards to the threatening behaviour charge, Inspector Gary Walsh said that on November 15, 2016, McDonagh entered Totally Toys at Moneen, Castlebar, in ‘an extremely aggressive manner’ and demanded a refund on an item that he claimed was faulty.

Asked do calm down

Inspector Walsh said McDonagh was asked to calm down and take his place in the queue, but he refused. He continued to shout at the owner, who asked him to go outside.

Inspector Walsh said the owner brought out the refund money without questioning the reported fault. However, outside, McDonagh spat in his direction, pulled down his trousers, flashed his rear end and said: “I live behind you, I’ll burn the place down and rape your wife.”

Defending solicitor Denis Molloy said his client was intoxicated on the day and has no memory of the incident, but accepts the inspector’s account of his statements and actions.

On Monday, July 16, the Gardaí were called to an incident at Breaffy House Hotel, where there was a disturbance involving a number of people, including McDonagh. Inspector Walsh said McDonagh was intoxicated, so much so that he fell into bushes on the hotel grounds.

Gardaí arrested him for his own safety, but when he was being put in a Garda van, he spat at Garda Conor Doyle, hitting him with spittle twice on the cheek, leading to the charge of Section 2 assault.

The court heard McDonagh has 72 previous convictions and was jailed for 12 months in October 2017 but had been released last May. His convictions date back to 2004. Denis Molloy said the majority of the convictions relate to alcohol misuse.

For the incident at Totally Toys, Judge Mary Devins sentenced McDonagh to three months in prison. For spitting at Garda Conor Doyle, Judge Devins sentenced McDonagh to four months in prison, to run consecutive to the first sentence. McDonagh was also fined a total of €1,000.