Dad threatened to rape and kill garda when found with hunting knife in bag, court hears

A court heard Jason Thornton (21) made repeated threats of sexual violence against the male officer when he was arrested in south Dublin.

He was refused bail and the case against him was adjourned when he appeared in Dublin District Court.

Mr Thornton, of Patrick Doyle Road, Windy Arbour, Dundrum, is charged with possession of drugs and weapons in the incident near his home.

He was not charged with any offences related to the alleged threats when his case came before Judge Deirdre Gearty.

Objecting to bail, the prosecuting garda said he was called to a reported domestic disturbance on April 13.

On arriving, he saw Mr Thornton in an area near his home. The accused turned and ran, throwing a small blue bag into a garden, he said.

When stopped, it was alleged the accused violently resisted arrest and used “violent, sexually explicit threats”.

It was alleged the accused called the garda a “gay little f****t” and shouted: “I’m going to rape you, I will ride you, you b***h.”

He tried to bite and spit on the garda, it was alleged, and threatened: “when you aren’t in uniform, I’m going to get you and kill you. You are a f***ing dead man”.

The garda said he subdued the accused and recovered the bag, which had 28.5g of cannabis herb, worth around €570.

Mr Thornton also had two large carrier bags in his possession and when these were searched, two cans of OC “pepper” spray were found, as well as a large black hunting knife, the garda said.

It was alleged the accused had been “caught red-handed” discarding the drugs bag in plain sight.

One of the bags he had contained letters addressed to the accused and his driving licence, the garda said.

The court heard a bag also contained weapons capable of causing serious injury.

The accused had made direct threats to kill a garda and repeated threats of sexual violence, he alleged.

The garda accepted there were no charges “at this point” related to threats to kill.

The judge refused bail because of the “matrix” of alleged offences before her.