Judge praises threat victim's 'kind and generous spirit'

Stuart McManus, aged 44, of Joyce Road, Drumcondra, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to making a threat to cause serious harm to a woman at her home on Ferguson Road, Drumcondra on Hallowe'en night. The court heard McManus attended the property after becoming angered by children throwing fireworks at his house. He complained to the woman about the incident and threatened to throw a cup containing boiling water and sugar at her and her young son. Following his arrest, McManus told gardaí the cup was empty and that he would never have physically harmed the woman. He accepted that his actions had frightened the victim. In her victim impact statement, the woman expressed no animosity towards McManus and stated she did not wish him to be punished. Judge Karen O'Connor commended the woman's "kind and generous spirit" before imposing a twelve-month probation order, requiring McManus to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for that period.