Man who threatened to ‘chop up’ a woman tells Nenagh court case has impacted his mental health

A Carlow man who threatened to kill and “chop up” a woman in Roscrea has told a judge that his mental health has been negatively impacted by the prosecution of his case.

Peter Fleming (34) of St Patrick’s Avenue, Carlow, came before Judge Adrian Harris at Nenagh District Court charged with threatening to kill or cause serious harm contrary to Section 5 of the Non-Fatal Acts Against the Person Act 1997 at 4 Cois Carrig, Roscrea. 

Acting for the prosecution, Sergeant Regina McCarthy told the court that on June 28, 2021, the injured party came to the Roscrea Garda Station and made a complaint that the defendant had made threats against her life by texts and voice messages. 

The court heard the defendant threatened to stab and “chop up” the injured party and that he would “do life for her”.

Gardaí spoke to the man in Portlaoise Prison where he was serving a sentence for an unrelated offence. 

Acting for the defendant, solicitor Conor Delaney said his client was intoxicated at the time and does not remember sending the messages. 

He said his client was “embarrassed” and had been upset at the time because he was trying to get access to his children. 

He believed the injured party, who is a friend of his ex-partner, was impeding those efforts. 

“He got a notion in his head that she was in the way, and with Dutch courage he did what he did,” said Mr Delaney.

He said a similar offence had been struck out last year, and his defendant had felt it was unfair to raise the issue again. 

Acting for the prosecution, Sergeant Regina McCarthy clarified for the court that is the first time this offence has been before the court. 

She told the court Mr Fleming had 81 previous convictions, including for assault and domestic violence. 

However, the defendant did not accept that answer. 

‘HISTORIC CHARGES’

Mr Fleming told the court this case has been going on for three years under different charges and has had a negative impact on his mental health. 

“How am I supposed to get on with my life with all these historic charges,” said the defendant.

Judge Harris pointed out that the man had pleaded guilty, to which the defendant said he only did to bring an end to the matter. 

He said he has since had two jobs and a new girlfriend. 

Mr Fleming said that while he had no recollection of sending the messages, he took issue with them being “leaked” on Facebook as they were the result of an “outburst” and it was not his “intention” for them to be made public. 

‘DESPICABLE AND APPALLING’

After reading the injured party’s victim impact statement, Judge Harris imposed a six-month prison sentence to run concurrent to the one the defendant is already serving. 

Commenting on the case, Judge Harris said:  “This is a despicable and appalling thing to do to a person to put them in fear for their life.”