Man jailed for pointing loaded gun at relative

By Fiona Ferguson

A Dublin man who threatened his relative while pointing a loaded gun at him due to “bad blood” in the family has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison, with the final six months suspended.

Mark O’Neill (51) of Knockmore Drive, Tallaght, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possessing a Smith and Wesson revolver and ammunition on September 7, 2022. He has ten previous convictions for road traffic offences.

Passing sentence on Wednesday, Judge Orla Crowe set a headline sentence of seven years but reduced this in light of mitigation.

She noted that O’Neill was remorseful and that the incident seemed to be completely out-of-character, but she said O’Neill’s description of “having a bad day” was “something of a euphemism”.

Judge Crowe said although the origin of the offence may have been a family dispute, O’Neill’s response was “disproportionate, lawless and very serious”.

She pointed out that not everyone would be able to source a revolver and live ammunition like O’Neill had, noting that this was an aggravating factor.

At a previous hearing, Detective Garda Eoghan Grant told Garrett McCormack BL, prosecuting, that gardai responded to a report of a firearm being produced by O’Neill at his relative’s home.

The court heard there had been an issue between the men and “bad blood” in the family at that time.

O’Neill had arrived at his relative’s house in a car and pointed a gun at the face of his relative after he came to his front door. O’Neill made a number of threats and claimed the man had caused him to be stabbed and owed him money.

O’Neill told the man: “You are fucking dead and you will be shot unless I get what I am owed.”

Gda Grant said a second male, who has not been identified, attempted to defuse the situation, and O’Neill and this man left the area in a car.

Gardai went to O’Neill’s home and recovered the revolver from bushes in close proximity to his home. Six rounds of ammunition were in the revolver. O’Neill presented himself to gardaí some days later. His DNA was found on the firearm and ammunition.

The court heard there had been a withdrawal of cooperation from prosecution witnesses.

The garda agreed O’Neill was someone with a long-standing drug addiction that can lead to certain aggressive type behaviours. O’Neill has not come to any further garda attention.

The garda agreed with Padraig Dwyer SC, defending, that O’Neill had mentioned a feud with a relative and went into details about bad blood with family members. The garda agreed he appeared to be heavily intoxicated.

Mr Dwyer submitted that this was completely out of character for his client, who has never been in custody before. He said this was an isolated event, and he was unlikely to be before the courts again.

He said this had come on the back of a long-running family feud that has not erupted again in the years since.

Counsel handed up several letters outlining O’Neill’s good qualities, and a letter from O’Neill apologising to his relative and saying he wished to leave all this behind.

He said O’Neill had a difficult childhood but a good work record as an adult. He suffers a number of health issues, some related to substance misuse, as well as mental health issues.

Counsel said O’Neill was sorry for what happened and said O’Neill had been taking ketamine and cocaine at the time. O’Neill has reported that he has ceased to use drugs. He outlined from reports that his client was borderline range in terms of cognitive ability and could benefit from therapy.

He asked the court to take into account the passage of time and O’Neill’s good behaviour since.