Threatened to cut off another man’s finger over alleged debt

The sentencing of two men, involved in the abduction of another man from a house in Cavan, who was bundled into a car, falsely imprisoned and later dumped by the roadside outside a local resort hotel, has been adjourned until the next court term.

Neither of the men is from Cavan and both had travelled to the county at the behest of others, Cavan Circuit Court was told.

Farouq Oluwanifemi B. Adio (21) and Matthew Wilde (19), both of Tailteann Drive, Windtown, Navan, Co Meath, pleaded guilty during the summer to falsely imprisoning Austin Denning at a location unknown in Co Cavan on April 3, 2024.

The court heard that the incident was linked to debt intimidation and, during the ordeal, a threat was issued to the victim that his little finger would be cut off if the debt wasn’t paid.

Wilde also pleaded guilty to a charge of assault causing harm to Mr Denning on the same occasion, to be taken into account at the conclusion of proceedings.

The court heard that a nolle prosequi is to be entered on a further charge on each indictment — producing a black-handled knife in a manner likely to intimidate.

Detective Sharon Walsh gave evidence before Judge John Aylmer, outlining how a “group of young men” arrived at the home of Anthony Olyode at Páirc an Dún, Cavan Town. Mr Olyode was inside the house at the time with his sister and Mr Denning.

There was a “loud bang” at the door and Mr Olyode told gardaí he ran upstairs and hid. Mr Denning was in another bedroom and, after being found, was taken from the house and placed into the back of a waiting silver-coloured Ford car.

The group who arrived at the house consisted of between three and four black males and one white male. Mr Olyode said he did not recognise any of them.

Mr Denning was seated in the middle of the back seat, with two black males to his right and the white male to his left. Two other black males were in the front seats.

The court was told that the white male seated beside Mr Denning was Wilde, while the driver of the vehicle was his co-accused, Adio.

The car drove to the nearby Farnham Estate. En route, Mr Denning was forced to issue an apology, which was recorded on a mobile phone.

Det Walsh told prosecuting counsel Frank Martin BL, instructed by State Solicitor Fiona Baxter, that the incident was linked to debt intimidation. The video was later circulated on social media as a means of showing Mr Denning “apologising”.

Mr Denning was then struck and punched to the face and head, and was threatened that his baby finger — or another digit — would be cut off.

At one stage, a call was made to one of two named individuals — neither of whom is before the courts — seeking instructions on what to do next with Mr Denning. The car was pulled over and Mr Denning later told gardaí that the men in the vehicle “started beating me”.

It was stated that Wilde threatened Mr Denning before he was ejected from the car outside the front gates of the Farnham Estate. Mr Denning then walked back to the Olyode homestead, where gardaí, who had been called to the scene, met him.

During the ordeal, Mr Denning was asked if he was “stupid or thick” for not responding to debt demands. It was alleged he had borrowed €1,700 from “someone from the Congo” living in Cavan and was unable to repay it. The repayment sought was €4,000, with Mr Denning expected to service the debt in Bitcoin and via Revolut.

Another man in the vehicle, named as “Lorenzo”, was said to have thrown the knife used to threaten Mr Denning out of the car window.

Gardaí later tracked the vehicle, obtained CCTV footage and identified three suspects — two of whom were the defendants before the court. Their identities were confirmed through the video circulated on social media.

Adio was the registered owner of the Ford car and was described as having been the driver at all times.

Wilde was identified as the man who initially held the knife and threatened to cut off one of Mr Denning’s fingers, telling the injured party that he would carry out the act “for fun”.

When Wilde was arrested and interviewed, he admitted being in Cavan, but denied it was him in the footage.

“It was obvious it was him,” said Mr Martin. Det Walsh agreed.

When Adio was interviewed he told gardaí he had been offered €50 to drive a number of people to Cavan.

The “bread knife” used to threaten Mr Denning was subsequently found by gardaí but there were no forensics available.

Neither of the two defendants had previous convictions at the time, and Mr Denning declined to provide a victim impact statement. He is now living and working “outside the county” and said to be “doing well”.

There was also no medical report available, but evidence was given that Mr Denning suffered some bruising.

“The threats never materialised,” stated Mr Martin for the prosecution. Counsel for Wilde recounted how his client did tell gardaí after that he “went with a fella doing stupid sh*t and I got dragged into it”.

He did not know Mr Denning.

Counsel for Adio said that the defendant has since “disassociated” himself from his former peer group.

An adjournment was sought by counsel for Wilde, noting that a probation report had been directed previously. To keep the cases together, Judge Aylmer remanded both on bail to appear against next term.