‘You're getting a chance': Man given suspended sentence for ramming gates at Leinster House and Áras an Uachtaráin with van
A man who was suffering from a paranoid delusion when he rammed gates at Leinster House and Áras an Uachtaráin last year has been warned that he will end up in prison if he repeats his offending.
David O'Callaghan (41), of the Fairways, Woodbrook Glen, Bray, Co Wicklow, caused more than €60,000 of damage after he drove at the gates of Leinster House, the Custom House and Áras an Uachtaráin, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.
O'Callaghan pleaded guilty to driving into the rear gates of Leinster House and two counts of criminal damage, all on August 2nd last.
He told gardaí that a person he believed to be his father was 'spiking' and spraying poison in his food and bedroom. He claimed he had been communicating with the President about this and decided to crash into the gates of the Áras to stop it. He said he did not want to get inside, only to cause damage.
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O'Callaghan has since been diagnosed with schizophrenia and is receiving treatment. He has 11 previous convictions, including for drug offences.
After hearing the facts of the case last month, Judge Martin Nolan directed the Probation Service to compile conditions for supervising O'Callaghan. He on Tuesday imposed a four-year prison sentence, which he suspended on strict conditions including that O'Callaghan place himself under the supervision of the Probation Service for 21 months.
'You're getting a chance, principally by reason of your underlying problems, but any repeat and you will end up in prison,' the judge said.
He said O'Callaghan would be brought back before the court if he offended during the term of the suspended sentence.
Garda Niamh McCarthy previously told Oisín Clarke BL, prosecuting, that O'Callaghan drove a white Ford Transit van to Chesterfield Avenue, did a U-turn in front of the entrance gates of Áras an Uachtaráin and reversed into and breached them before driving away. The gates were inoperable for a period afterwards, with repairs costing €4,795.
O'Callaghan then went to the Custom House, where he drove into gates and reversed out and then turned and reversed into them a second time. Some €2,000 worth of damage was caused.
A few minutes later, a garda on duty at the rear of Leinster House heard a loud crash, then metal hitting the ground. He saw a vehicle reversing from the gates towards Merrion Street Upper. A short time later, the garda heard two further crashes and then noticed a van stopped near the Department of the Taoiseach and that a set of gates at the Ministers' Entrance were off their hinges.
The court heard O'Callaghan struck the perimeter gate at the Department of the Taoiseach with such force that the airbags deployed and the van was inoperable afterwards.
O'Callaghan then got out of the van and appeared he had his phone and was recording.
More than €52,000 damage was caused to the three sets of gates at Leinster House.
He told gardaí at the scene that he had been driving the van and he admitted crashing into the gates at Leinster House, Customs House and Áras an Uachtaráin. He also said he had consumed alcohol and cocaine earlier that evening.
After his arrest, O'Callaghan told gardaí he had reversed into a vehicle parked in the forecourt of Windsor Motors, Bray, before he drove to Áras an Uachtaráin. The court was told that extensive damage was caused to the vehicle.
In total, some €60,000 worth of damage was caused, not including that to the vehicle in the Bray forecourt.
Garda McCarthy told the court that O'Callaghan was co-operative and entered an early guilty plea. She agreed with John Berry SC, defending, that emails were found on O'Callaghan's phone which indicated he had a paranoid delusion that his food had been spiked and he had been poisoned for three years.
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