Man who discharged firearm and said ‘I’ll kill you all, man, woman or child’, is jailed

A father-of-four who discharged a firearm at a Co Offaly halting site and could be heard saying “I’ll kill you all, man, woman or child and I’ll blow your brains out” has been jailed for six years.

Simon Quilligan went on the run after the attack for 19 months before he was eventually extradited back from the UK. However, the jurors found Quilligan guilty ) of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life on the same occasion. He was also found guilty of making a threat to Sandra O’Brien and Victoria Doherty, intending them to believe it would be carried out, to kill or cause them serious harm on the same occasion.

Referring to the accused’s wife, the judge noted that she had written a letter to the court explaining that one of their children had health difficulties and another child suffered from psychological issues. She said the accused was a great father, supportive of their family in every way and he wanted to rekindle his relationship with the McDonaghs. The court heard she suffers from depression and had difficulty coping with four young children on her own.

He said Mr McDonagh had given evidence that the sound of the firearm, which was never recovered, was “just like air” and had described the gun to gardaí as being just like an airgun. The judge said “evidence of hope” that a relationship between the two families can be fostered into the future could be regarded as one of these exceptional circumstances specific to the offence and it would therefore be unjust to impose a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years on the accused. However, he said the court must also take into account the harm caused to society by the unlawful use of firearms.

Source: Law Daily Report (lawdailyreport.net)

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