A repeat offender who was on bail when he entered a Carlow pub armed with a clawhammer and threatened the owners that he would burn down their family home has been jailed for three years.
Martin Lyons (31) of Springfield Park, Burrin Road, Carlow, pleaded guilty at Carlow Circuit Criminal Court to possessing a hammer with the intention of incapacitating or intimidating someone and threatening to cause harm or to kill the owners during the same incident at the Pint Depot Pub, Royal Oak, Bagenalstown on 16 March, 2024.
Lyons has 146 previous convictions, the majority of which are for road traffic offences but include those for possession of drugs. He was on bail at the time of the offence for criminal damage, a crime which he had committed earlier that month.
The court heard that Lyons came into the bar carrying a claw hammer and claiming that a person who used to work there owed him money. There were 15 customers in the bar at the time.
The owner of the bar brought Lyons to the door and Lyons turned to him and threatened to burn down his family home.
Lyons was arrested the following September as the pub owners knew him from the area. He made full admissions to gardaí and identified himself on CCTV footage.
Judge Mary Morrissey said the owners of the bar were frightened and worried that Lyons would carry out the threat to burn down their family home. She acknowledged that while there was no victim impact statement before the court, the family found the incident “very distressing”.
She said that Lyons made “loud and threatening” threats which caused significant distress and fear for those present at the time, while he was “seeking to enforce a debt”.
Judge Morrissey said that the crime was pre-meditated and set a headline sentence of five years.
In mitigation, she accepted that Lyons had significant addiction issues with both alcohol and drugs and that the father of two had pleaded guilty to the offences before the court.
She noted that his addiction began at the age of 13 and he has spent time in a residential treatment unit and has also been treated for mental health issues.
Judge Morrissey noted a letter of apology Lyons had written for the court and accepted that he had stable family relationships, with both of his parents offering him support. She also accepted evidence that he is “motivated to change” for the sake of his relationship with his own children.
Judge Morrissey imposed a sentence of four years. She accepted that Lyons is ashamed of his actions and suspended the final 12 months of the sentence for two years on condition that he engage with the Probation Service, maintains his sobriety and engage with mental health services.