Cork teen who threated to shoot gardaí handed a custodial sentence 

A residential area of Carrigaline had to be sealed off as a young man threatened to shoot gardaí with a handgun from the upstairs window of an apartment as he uploaded live videos of his violent behaviour online.

Nineteen-year-old Conor Farrell has been in custody since his arrest on that day, July 15, 2024, and Judge Joanne Carroll took that into consideration and imposed a sentence of six months on the young man to commence from last Thursday, January 16.

Judge Carroll said: “This man created what was essentially a public emergency brandishing a weapon in an estate from an upstairs window. People believed he had a weapon and that he was going to use it. And he threw glass bottles at gardaí when they were trying to resolve the matter.”

In November last year he was jailed for three years for arson of two houses in Carrigaline which he also videoed and posted online.

Drama

In respect of the drama that played out in Carrigaline last July, Inspector Martin Canny said at Cork District Court: “Gardaí arrived at the scene and saw Conor Farrell when they responded to a report of him having a firearm that he was willing to use.

“He was screaming and roaring in an agitated state from the upstairs window of the apartment. He was waving what appeared to be a firearm.

“He shouted that it was real. The Garda Armed Support Unit and a number of other units attended. The entire area of Ferney Court, Ardcarrig estate, the Ferney estate and Ferney Road in both directions had to be closed off to members of the public at around 7pm that evening.

“Gardaí attempted to defuse the situation. However, he was unable to calm down. All this time he was at the top front window of his house, threatening gardaí."

Retreated

“After approximately 50 minutes Conor Farrell moved his position at the window and by accident knocked the firearm from the windowsill. It fell to the ground outside the front apartment. He retreated to the apartment. Armed Support Unit gardaí immediately entered the area and recovered the firearm from the front of the house. At the same time he appeared at the window and threw two glass bottles at the gardaí below. They missed.

“Garda Dave Shannon of Carrigaline garda station arrested him. He had a large kitchen knife and a cannabis grinder in his possession.”

While the teenager shouted he had a firearm and would use it to shoot gardaí it later turned out that it was an imitation handgun.

Prison

Diarmuid Kelleher, solicitor, said: “He got into offending in his late teens. He left school at 16. He was not occupying himself with anything and he started drinking and taking drugs, leading to him going off the rails.

“On this occasion, ironically the alcohol was called Loko and it had that effect on him when this happened in July 2024.

“He is in prison since his arrest that night. He is doing well, He is attending Narcotics Anonymous and counselling.

“He has been the author of his own misfortune.”

The arsons — for which the same defendant was sentenced to three years in prison in November — were carried out on March 12, 2023, when he broke into two new houses that were almost completed and he set fires in various rooms including the attic of one of the new homes.