Tralee Circuit Court has heard a man made threats to kill and burn down the house of another man, out of jealousy.
57-year-old John Foley, formerly of Tullig Kenmare, faces three counts of threatening to kill or cause serious harm to Pat Harney.
He also faces a count of criminal damage to Pat Harney’s house, with all the alleged offending taking place in a period of three weeks at the beginning of the pandemic.
Pat Harney gave evidence that between 12 March 2020 and 2nd April 2020, he got several different phone calls from John Foley, who threatened to kill him and burn down his house.
In one call, he allegedly told Mr Harney, “It’s time to get the petrol”, and in another, as Mr Harney installed CCTV on his house, John Foley allegedly told him, “Cameras won’t save you at all”.
John Foley is also accused of throwing cream-coloured paint all over the footpath outside Mr Harney’s house, all over his front door, and with splatters on the windows and wall.
Pat Harney told the court gardaí eventually advised him to leave his house and escorted him out of Kilgarvan.
It was put to Mr Harney that this was about a woman, Peggy Delaney, who had been Mr Foley’s partner for almost two decades.
Mr Harney denies that he was in a relationship with Ms Delaney at the time of the alleged threats, but he told the court they were in a relationship together many months later, which has since ended.
Ms Delaney herself gave evidence that she and John Foley had been broken up since late 2018, but that they still lived together in Tullig, Kenmare.
She said in March 2020, John Foley made threats against Pat Harney, who he nicknamed ‘lover boy’, that when he was finished with him, Mr Harney would only be able to drink through a straw, or that he would kill him.
Ms Delaney said Mr Foley spiralled towards the end of March and on 2nd April, he left the house with a gun and told her he was going to kill Pat Harney, after he’d thrown a knife near her feet in the kitchen, claiming if he wanted to hit her with the knife, he would have.
She said when he left that morning, she truly believed he was going to kill Pat Harney, and when he returned, she rang the gardaí, who told her to leave the house for her own safety.
In cross-examination from barrister Katie O’Connell, instructed by solicitor Eimear Griffin, Ms Delaney agreed that John Foley was jealous of her relationship with Pat Harney, but she said they were not having an affair, and that her and Mr Foley had not been together for two years.
She did say she would visit Mr Harney's house once a week to clean it for him, as he was very good to them and provided internet for them.
The trial continues before Judge Alec Gabbett.
