[ad_1]
A man who carried out violent attacks on the staff of a fast food restaurant under his floor in a dispute over night hours and noise has been jailed for three years.
Judge Karen O’Connor said the fact that Gerard Griffin (63) carried out the first attacks on the business 10 days after his son’s death in 2017 was a “powerful” aspect of his mitigation.
Griffin had an ongoing dispute with Bilal Ahmed of Chicken Hut on Clanbrassil Street in Dublin due to noise levels, the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard. When the company asked to extend the opening hours to 1.30am, Griffin also filed complaints with Dublin City Council.
In April 2017, he entered the restaurant and beat Mr. Ahmed, threatened the staff, and smashed the store with a hockey stick. After his arrest, he made “disgusting, racist and abusive comments,” Judge O’Connor said.
He told gardaí: “They will never make it to court. I will make sure of that … wait and see.” Last February, he attacked Mr. Ahmed again, stabbing him in the hand after closing the restaurant for the night.
When the Gardaí arrived, Griffin ran back to his apartment and refused to come out, telling Gardaí, “This is a siege.”
He claimed he had “booby traps” in his apartment and threatened to pour boiling water on anyone who entered.
He screamed that he would kill or stab any Garda who tried to gain access to his home.
Griffin later came out and threatened suicide while holding a kitchen knife to his throat. The garda’s armed support unit eventually removed him from his apartment and called an ambulance for a superficial wound he sustained in the throat with a Stanley blade.
Griffin, of Old Mill Court, Clanbrassil Street, Dublin, pleaded guilty in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court of assaulting Mr. Ahmed, damaging the Chicken Hut and threatening to kill or cause serious harm on April 29, 2017.
He also pleaded guilty to assault causing damage, production of a knife, and threats to kill or cause serious damage again on Clanbrassil Street on February 1, 2020.
His 30 previous convictions include assault, public order offenses, possession of firearms, theft and vehicle theft. Defender Dean Kelly SC told the court that his client began experiencing depression after the death of one of his daughters and has been stabilized on antidepressants.
He said that when he doesn’t take his medication, Griffin experiences hallucinatory and auditory delusions and talks to his deceased children.
Judge Karen O’Connor said Griffin has had a very tragic background with four children dying in heartbreaking circumstances.
She suspended the last three years of an operative sentence of six years in prison on the condition that he stay away from the Clanbrassil street apartment.
[ad_2]