GERARD Dundon and David McCormack have each been jailed for five years under the provisions of new gangland legislation, at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin.
Dundon, aged 24, of Hyde Avenue, Ballinacurra Weston, and 26-year-old McCormack of Crecora Avenue, Ballinacurra Weston, were jailed after pleading guilty to committing violent disorder at Sarsfield Avenue, Garryowen, on February 17, 2010.
Originally sent forward for the three non-jury court under the new anti-gangland laws, Dundon and McCormack pleaded guilty to the offences and instead, were sent forward under existing legislation to the court.
Dundon appeared in December before the three judge court and admitted violent disorder where he was part of a group that used or threatened to use violence to cause people to fear for their safety or the safety of others at Sarsfield Avenue, Garryowen, on February 17 last.
Both Dundon and McCormack were arrested and charged after pursuing a 27-year-old man, Mark Heffernan, for money allegedly owed.
Mark Heffernan said that the two were not involved in the attempts to get the money but that there was a “linkage” between earlier events, and where a group of men chased him across Limerick city last February.
Parking his 4×4 jeep outside a post office in Garryowen, Heffernan said he recognised two of the men that alighted a car armed with hammers.
He said he recognised Dundon sitting in the passenger seat, as well as David McCormack, as being members of the group.
Dundon attempted to stop the 4X4 jeep, while he noticed McCormack standing on the road with a black bar.
Heffernan said he sped away from the area of Sarsfield Avenue by mounting the footpath, but was pursued by the group.
He was said to have circled the city in his jeep while attempting to contact gardai.
McCormack responded to questioning by gardai about the possibility of being “banged up” for a few years because of a “rat” by saying he would “kill them,” before adding that he would “put them in a wheelchair for the rest of their lives”.
Heffernan, the court was told, is now under 24-hour garda protection.
Counsel for Dundon said that his client, although having 99 previous convictions, was a person with a limited record to cause concern in the context of the offence of violent disorder.
Counsel for McCormack said that his client, who with 19 previous convictions, only began offending in 2002 upon the death of his father and that he was not charged with the possession of any weapon and that it took “courage” to enter a guilty plea.
Mr Justice Paul Butler said that the court acknowledged that there was no evidence that either man had tried to retrieve money from Heffernan, but it was satisfied that there was a “campaign of intimidation” against him.
Dundon and McCormack were jailed for five years and it was backdated it to April 2010, the date they were first taken into custody.
Gerard Dundon (left) and David MCormack (right) pictured being taken from court in Limerick last Summer before being sent to the Special Criminal Court in Dublin where each received a five year prison sentence for their part in what Mr Justice Paul Butler said was a “campaign of intimidation”.
