A man guilty of threatening a Longford Senator and his family has been handed a suspended jail sentence today. David Larkin of Ardnacassa Lawns pleaded guilty last year of harassing Senator Micheal Carrigy over the course of a number of months in 2021 and 2022. The contact ranged from Facebook messages, to texts, to a voice mail, all of which included various threats to either the Senator or his children. The matter first came before the court in July 2022, with Mr Larkin pleading guilty to the charges in October of last year. A victim impact statement from Senator Carrigy previously described how the messages left him in fear for the security of his family.
The case has come before the court a number of times for sentencing over the last year, with Judge Bernadette Owens pushing back a final decision in order to the guilty party to engage with the probation services and mental health professionals. In sentencing the 43 year old in Longford District Court today, Judge Owens stated that she was endeavouring to deal with the matter in a serious matter and stated she would be obliged if people could give her credit for that. Referring to the probation report on Mr Larkin, the judge stated that he had been somewhat problematic in the early engagement with the services but had improved in recent months.
She also described how the accused was still espousing views that had led to the harrassment of Senator Carrigy. She stated there was a moderate risk of David Larkin re-offending and described that she was not satisfied that probation bond would be sufficient in this case. She handed down a 5 month suspended sentence and cash bond, with Mr Larkin ordered to maintain his engagement with both probation and psychiatric services. Judge Owens stated that the sentence would be activated should his engagement cease or he come to the attention of the Gardaí.
