'This is what a real man is': Cork man jailed for 18 months for threatening a woman inside of car

A motorist terrified a young woman by driving at a wall and swerving away at the last moment, telling her: “This is what a real man is”, as he did handbrake turns.

Detective Garda Dave Forsythe testified that the accused man, 21-year-old Jay Whelan of Liam McGearailt Place, Fermoy, threatened to cause serious injury to a young woman.

Judge Helen Boyle jailed him for 18 months at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

On December 21, 2023, just after 5.30pm Jay Whelan rang the young woman and asked her to meet him following a break-up. They met in Fermoy and drove to Conna. He said he wanted to get back together with her but she said she did not want to do so.

“He drove at speed and started calling her a whore and a tramp. She shouted at him to slow down. He drove straight towards a wall, swerving away at the last moment.

“He parked outside the home of her ex-boyfriend. He wanted to fight him because of this past relationship. He drove to Conna Woods. He told her, ‘I’m going to bring you up to Conna and bate the shit out of you.’ He said, ‘I’ll bate your face so no one will want you.’

“He was doing handbrake turns saying, ‘This is what a real man is’. When the car stopped she was in a frightened state and she attempted to open the door. He was punching the steering wheel and everything in the car. She was screaming for help,” Det Garda Forsythe said.

A woman in the area told her to get into her car and she drove her to safety. The entire ordeal in the defendant’s car lasted over 25 minutes and covered a distance of 24km.

Following the incident, Jay Whelan went to mainland Europe where he lived for periods in seven countries before returning in August this year. It was at that stage that he was charged and placed in custody.

The young woman who was victim of the threatening behaviour opted not to come to court or to make a victim impact statement.

Defence senior counsel Jane Hyland said the accused had a chaotic home life and was homeless for a period, relying on his car as a place to live.

Ms Hyland said that when the defendant left the country he had not been charged with any offence. And that on the evening when it happened he turned up at Fermoy garda station 20 minutes afterwards and he was crying as he admitted that the young woman would have been put in fear by him. “He is doing well in prison and he is remorseful,” Ms Hyland added.

Judge Helen Boyle said this was a serious and terrifying offence and she imposed a sentence of three years, with half of the sentence suspended. The sentence was backdated to August 9 to take account of the amount of time he had spent in custody already.