Colm Dowling remanded on bail for hearing on earlier suspended term

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Colm Dowling received a two-year prison sentence, with the final nine months suspended on strict conditions, and was remanded on bail for a separate hearing on whether to activate the suspended portion of an earlier sentence. He had pleaded guilty to two criminal damage offences.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Dowling, 68, tried to set a garda’s personal car alight using vegetable oil. The attempt damaged a windscreen wiper. In a separate incident, he repeatedly drove a van into gates at a business premises in Rathfarnham, causing €7,200 damage to the gates and a pillar.

Judge Jonathan Dunphy accepted that the attack on the garda’s car was not targeted. He treated the targeted offending against the owner of the business property, who had also been a victim of Dowling’s previous offending, as an aggravating factor.

The judge found that Dowling’s mental illness reduced his culpability. The court heard that he had major depressive disorder and severe alcoholism. Defence counsel Michael O’Higgins SC asked the court to consider his early guilty pleas, letter of apology and remorse.

Dowling must undergo two years of Probation Services supervision after release and complete any referrals, including for residential treatment. The judge also imposed a separate two-year peace bond in relation to the damage to the garda’s car. Dowling was ordered to pay €76 for the damaged wiper within 28 days of his release.

The court heard that he had eight previous convictions and that the new offences occurred during the suspended part of an earlier sentence.