Ballyjamesduff resident jailed for threat to kill cab officer
Aoife Nic Ardghail
A Cavan resident who owes Revenue over €427,000 has been jailed for four and a half years for tax evasion, threats to kill a CAB officer and serious driving offences. Paschal Kelly (50) of Cormeen, Ballyjamesduff, was arrested last year after he failed to turn up for his trial in 2012.
He pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to delivering an incorrect tax return for 2003 and failing to make tax returns for 2004 and 2008.
He also pleaded guilty to threatening to kill a Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) officer on April 7, 2011 and to reckless endangerment and dangerous driving in the Lucan area on October 9, 2012.
Kelly, who was registered as a sole trader for window cleaning and taxi services, has 47 previous convictions. These include a four year sentence for robbery in 1989 and ten years for a similar offence in 1997. Detective Sergeant Brendan Flanagan said that Revenue and CAB had been investigating Kelly over a number of years.
He told Anne Rowland BL, prosecuting, that Kelly had been dealing with one CAB officer in particular and that their relationship had been “amicable”. This officer had previously visited Kelly at his Cavan home and called on the father-of-two at his partner’s home in Balbriggan on April 7, 2011.
Kelly was not present but phoned the officer at work later that day and threatened to kill him. The officer didn’t record the phone call but subsequently told colleagues that Kelly had been highly aggressive.
During the phone call Kelly claimed his partner had been giving him “loads” and then he warned the officer to tell his colleagues to stop watching the house. Det Sgt Flanagan said that this officer had to review his own security and that of his family. The detective agreed with Sean Gillane SC, defending, that his client had received an inaccurate report of the garda visit to his partner’s home.
He agreed that the officer had acknowledged Kelly’s apology and that the conduct had never been repeated. Garda Kevin Walsh told Ms Rowland that he and a colleague had been on patrol on October 9, 2012 when they saw Kelly drive into a petrol station on the Naas Road. Gda Walsh said he activated his vehicle’s blue flashing lights when Kelly immediately started to drive off. Kelly failed to stop and led the gardai on a dangerous high speed chase.
He drove at over 190kmph in 100kmph zones, undertook heavy vehicles, went against traffic and forced cars to take evasive action. Gda Walsh said that he lost sight of the Mazda, but had clearly identified Kelly as the driver. Mr Gillane submitted to Judge Martin Nolan that his client had a serious drug addiction in the 1980s and 1990s which led to criminal behaviour and illness.
Judge Nolan accepted that Kelly had “suffered traumatic experiences” during his time in industrial schools. He took into account Kelly’s guilty pleas and apologies and backdated the sentence to October 2014, when Kelly entered custody.