Jailed for menacing production of knives

By Claire Henry and Eimear Dodd

 A man has been jailed after he produced two knives in a “menacing fashion” during an attack on a new mother who had just returned home from visiting her premature baby in hospital.

Jonathan Cummins (37) of Tubberclaire Meadows, Navan, Co Meath pleaded guilty to production of knives during the course of a dispute on November 27, 2021 at a location in Blanchardstown. 

Imposing sentence yesterday, Judge Orla Crowe said this was a “truly shameful state of affairs” and “showed a level of lawlessness which is quite concerning”.

 She noted that the victim thought Cummins was going to stab her and was left in fear, which was “existential”. 

The judge also noted the impact of the offence on the victim.

 She said Cummins was “doing someone else’s dirty work” and that the court didn’t accept the defence’s submission that he was in the background as he produced two knives and moved towards the victim during the incident.

 “He involved himself in a menacing fashion and advanced towards a woman already being attacked by another woman,” she said.

 The judge added that Cummins’s previous convictions, including for possession of knives, were an aggravating factor.

 She said she took into consideration his guilty plea, personal circumstances and mitigation before imposing a three-year sentence.

 Judge Crowe said the court would suspend the final six months of the sentence on strict conditions in order to incentivise his rehabilitation.

She directed Cummins to place himself under the supervision of the Probation Services for 12 months post-release and backdated his sentence to March 6 last, when he entered his guilty plea.

Cummins’s co-accused Miranda McCabe (37) also of Tubberclare Meadows, Navan, Co. Meath was handed a two-year sentence with the final 15 months suspended last May.

She pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to the victim on the same date.

 An investigating told Diarmuid Collins BL, prosecuting, that the injured party had just travelled home after visiting her premature baby in the hospital.

When she got out of her car, she noticed a silver Ford Focus with a man and a woman sitting inside.

 She was standing in her porch when McCabe jumped from the car and head-butted her.

McCabe punched her several more times before the woman managed to restrain her.

 The court heard that Cummins, who had been in the car, was now standing in the garden dressed in black, wearing gloves, and had his face covered with a scarf.

The injured party saw him move toward her and pull two kitchen knives from the back of his trousers. 

The victim thought he was going to stab her, the court heard.

 The woman’s son opened the front door and as McCabe swung to hit her she missed and instead hit the child.

McCabe continued to hit the injured party several more times before Cummins dragged her away.

 As they were leaving, McCabe said, “This is only the start.”

They both got into the car and drove away.

 The court heard that the gardaí were called and given a description of the car McCabe was travelling in.

As the gardaí entered the estate, they saw a car matching the description driving away.

 They stopped the car and observed Cummins with a cannabis joint in one hand and knife in the other.

 When gardaí opened the car door, they noticed he was trying to hide another knife in the car and a strong smell of cannabis.

Cummins was taken from the car and searched.

He indicated that there was a small amount of herbal cannabis in the car, which he said was for his own use.

 Two kitchen knives were found in the car, which Cummins told gardaí he had brought from his home by accident.

 When interviewed following arrest, he mostly exercised his right to silence, but suggested that the victim was lying about the assault.

 He has 156 previous convictions including 16 for possession of knives, four for assault and 20 for criminal damage.

He is currently serving a 15-month sentence on separate matter with an earliest release date of next January.

 Neither Cummins nor McCabe were known to the victim, and they acted at the behest of a third party, the court heard. 

 In a victim impact statement read to the court by Mr Collins, the woman said she was in fear for her life during the incident and is always on guard since then.

 The garda agreed with Keith Spencer BL, defending, that his client did not physically assault the victim and stayed in the background while McCabe carried out the attack.

 It was also accepted that Cummins told McCabe they should leave after the child opened the door and he later pulled her away. 

 Mr Spencer put it to the garda that while his client’s presence was “menacing”, the production of the knives was the extent of his involvement, which was accepted by the witness.

 Mr Spencer said his client wished to apologise for his role in the incident.

He suggested that Cummins’s remarks when the child opened the door speak to “some level of compassion”, but this does not excuse him being present while the assault was taking place.

 He noted that McCabe was the main aggressor and suggested that she was “emboldened” by Cummins’s presence.

 Cummins had a difficult upbringing and lost both his parents at an early age.

He left school at 13 and started a carpentry apprenticeship but didn’t finish it.

He began to take drugs and later became addicted to crack cocaine and heroin.

 Cummins is on methadone while in custody and wishes to reduce his intake further.

Mr Spencer said his client has previously sought to deal with his addiction issues and completed residential treatment, but relapsed into a “cycle of addiction”.

 His client has engaged with services and wishes to break this cycle, Mr Spencer added.