Michael Mahon jailed after pleading guilty to assault and threat to kill

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

Michael Mahon was jailed for three years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court following an attack on his then girlfriend, Catherine Brennan. The proceedings were reported on 16 June 2020.

Mahon pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Brennan and threatening to kill her. The attack took place at her home in Ongar, Dublin 15, on 12 December 2019.

The report said Mahon punched and kicked Brennan and tried to cut her toe off with a butcher’s knife. Video footage shown in court was recorded by Brennan and showed a visibly drunk Mahon holding a knife and making threats.

Defence counsel Pieter Le Vert said Mahon had been diagnosed with severe ADHD and began drinking heavily after his mother’s death. He said Mahon expressed remorse after gardaí showed him photographs of Brennan’s bruising. Garda Des Mulvihill agreed with counsel that Mahon was a very different person when sober from the person seen in the footage.

Judge Martin Nolan described the assault as savage and prolonged, involving realistic threats. He accepted that Mahon was remorseful, had co-operated with gardaí and was trying to reform himself in custody. He backdated the three-year prison term to 14 December 2019.