A man who made threats to kill an Independent Dublin city councillor, Malachy Steenson, during the campaign for the local and European elections in 2024, has been jailed for 13 months.
Jamie Moonen (30) with an address in Mountjoy Square in Dublin 1, pleaded guilty to making a threat to a garda to kill or cause serious harm to another person on May 15th of last year. The court heard that he had arrived at the offices of Mr Steenson and made threats to kill the candidate.
In his statement to the court, Cllr Steenson had asked Judge Martin Nolan to consider fully suspending any custodial sentence for the accused, and expressed his hope that Mr Moonen would learn from the events and overcome the challenges he faces in life.
On the day the threats were made, Cllr Steenson said he had been informed by a Garda that the man had said to a member of the force on North Circular Road that he was on his way to kill Malachy Steenson “because he was a racist and fascist”, and that Gardaí had then followed the man to the office.
Garda Darragh O’Connor told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that Moonen had approached gardaí on the North Circular Road and told them he was going to kill Mr Steenson that the members of the force believed it to be a credible threat, Breaking News reported.
The judge noted that Mr Moonen has 12 prior convictions for public order offences and one for assault. The court heard he had been diagnosed with depression and had fully admitted making the threats and apologised for his behaviour.
Cllr Steenson is a well-known and high profile campaigner on the issue of immigration and has led several national marches calling for changes to government policies on same, in particular relating to the imposition of asylum centres on local communities. He has also been vocal on the harm being caused by drug dealing in inner-city communities.
In a statement to the court, Cllr Steenson said he has “been active in politics since my youngest day” and that as a political activist he has “faced many challenges and risks”.
He said that whilst he was out campaigning in the East Wall area on May 15th 2024, he got a call from my campaign headquarters advising him of the incident. “I returned to the Office and consulted with my team and with the Garda. Following that I returned to the canvass”.
“It is not the first time that my life has been threatened and on some occasions individuals have tried to carry out those threats. I have always accepted those risks as going with the territory. Unlike other politicians I do not make a song and dance about these things and demand that retribution be sought,” he said.
“We are living in very tense political times and that just the way it is, since this incident I have increased my security and my close security team ensures that my safety is paramount when I am out at public events,” he said.
However, the Independent councillor had used his victim impact sentence to ask the court, in the event of a custodial sentence being imposed on Mr. Moonen, to fully suspend the sentence and expressed the hope that the accused would overcome the challenges he faces in life.
“[In] the event that the Court imposes a custodial sentence I would humbly ask the Court to fully suspend that sentence. I hope that Mr. Moonen has learnt from these events and that he overcomes the challenges he already faces in life and goes on to enjoy a better life,” Cllr Steenson said.
He also said he wanted to commend An Garda Síochana and particularly Garda O’Connor and Garda Mc Keon for their prompt and efficient actions on the day in question, adding his thanks to his wife, family and team “for the way in which this matter has not deterred them for carrying on”.
Today, Cllr Steenson told Gript that: “at the time my son said to Moonen “you aren’t the first to come to try and kill my Da, and because of your incompetence you probably won’t be the last”.