Jason Hennessy Jnr jailed after confronting armed cops and aggressive behaviour
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The son of fatal shooting victim Jason 'Jay' Hennessy Snr has been jailed for a string of violent crimes including an aggressive confrontation with armed gardaí during a tense search of his Dublin home.
Jason Hennessy Jnr, 28, pleaded guilty before Judge Catherine Hayden, who imposed sentences totalling six months and a two-year road ban. His father was murdered in a gun attack at a steakhouse on Christmas Eve 2023 in Blanchardstown.
Hennessy, of Sheephill Avenue, Blanchardstown, faced 15 charges: violent disorder, dangerous driving, obstructing drug search, and having a passenger with no seatbelt from 2019 to 2022 in the Blanchardstown area. At Blanchardstown District Court, Garda Sergeant Ian Abbey outlined the facts on behalf of nine prosecuting gardaí who had had various interactions with the father of four, resulting in criminal charges.
The court heard that on May 18, 2019, gardaí conducted a search operation at his home and brought the armed support unit (ASU). Jason Jnr had to be restrained by members of the ASU, resisted the search of the property, and when one officer entered, he stood up in an extremely aggressive stance. He shouted abuse and told an officer to "Fuck off".
The accused told the officer, "You won't be searching this house," but he stood and "squared up" to the garda, entering his personal space and placing his head close to him. Detective Garda Megan Furey had dealings with him twice on June 23, 2019. The first occurred at Blanchardstown Courthouse, where Hennessy called her a "fucking tramp" and was arrested under the Public Order Act.
At 8.19pm that night, as she and colleagues engaged in a "covert operation", she observed him driving after another car on the Blakestown road, where he sped "straight through a red light". There were male occupants in his car, and armed colleagues were alerted due to the nature of the operation, targeting criminal activity in the area.
The vehicle turned back in her direction, travelled towards her at speed, and went back through the junction of Blakestown Road and Blakestown Way "at high speed on the wrong side of the road". On April 3, 2020, he drove a car with a young child in the back with no seatbelt.
The court heard that on June 22, 2020, at 1 am in the cell area of Blanchardstown Garda station, the gaoler, did a routine check in cell number 3 to check on the prisoner. Hennessy told the garda, "You are a blond muppet, turn off the light." He threw water from the toilet, saying, "Do you want water? You will have to drag me out".
He then began throwing litter from his meal that day. He had to be removed, as he became very aggressive, acting violently to gardaí, and the cell had to be cleaned. Gardaí spotted him on May 8, 2020, with a group where one of them was "acting suspiciously" outside the Laurel Lodge shopping centre.
The garda retrieved a mobile phone from Hennessy and held it when it received a notification. Hennessy then "became aggressive and threw the mobile phone on the ground, causing it to break. He became violent and had to be restrained and was arrested for obstruction."
The court heard on February 15, 2020, he was caught parking on a footpath and, on January 23, 2020, driving at 93 km/h in a 60 km/h zone. He became aggressive and verbally abused a garda on routine patrol on February 5, 2022, at Corduff Shops, taunting, "You will do well in prison, you little faggot", and making hand gestures where there were young children present at the time.
The court heard he was arrested on July 19, 2019, at Aldi Mulhuddart Village, D15, where the defendant engaged in threatening and abusive language toward gardaí. Pleading for leniency, defence solicitor Tertius Van Eeden told the court his client had young children and was in a long-term relationship, was doing well, "working out and keeping his head down."
The solicitor added that his client was "in a good place mentally now given the fact his father was brutally murdered in a Christmas Eve shooting in 2023". He had 15 prior convictions for public order offences, hit and run, and also an assault causing harm and violent disorder incident, which resulted in a suspended three-year sentence.
He spoke briefly only to confirm a procedural aspect of the case and was not required to give evidence. Judge Hayden noted the offences went back several years and took into account his guilty pleas, which saved the court from having to run several hearings.
Earlier this week at Dublin District Court, Judge Anthony Halpin ordered the destruction of four XL Bully pit bulls owned by Hennessy's mother, Veronica Maher, 54, after one escaped the family home and terrorised gardaí who feared for their lives. There has been a two-week stay on the order to destroy Oddie, Reggie, their mother, Medusa, and the fourth dog, Joe, pending a possible appeal.
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