Murderer made threat to burn prison officer's house, court hears

Fiona Ferguson

A convicted murderer who made a threat to burn down the home of a prison officer has been given a two-year sentence.

Stephen Penrose (40) is currently serving a life sentence for murder. He also has a prior conviction for manslaughter, three convictions for assaults on prison officers and one for a threat to an officer.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Penrose, who represented himself in court, admitted the words were spoken but indicated during the trial that there was no intention to carry them out.

Penrose pleaded not guilty to threatening to damage the property of a named prison officer at Cloverhill Prison on March 4th, 2018. A jury unanimously convicted Penrose of the sole count on the indictment at a trial earlier this month.

Detective Sergeant Sean Cosgrove told Katherine McGillicuddy BL, prosecuting, that on the day prior to the threat being made, there had been an interaction between Penrose and the named officer. The officer made a complaint arising from this and was absent from work the following day.

Penrose told other prison staff that the officer had better drop the complaint. He said he knew where the officer lived and would pour petrol through their letterbox and burn their house down. The staff reported that he was irate and aggressive.

Penrose told gardaí during an interview that he was not happy a “false allegation” had been made against him. He said he was letting off steam as he was annoyed and angry. He said he had not made a direct threat to the named officer.

The officer did not wish to make a victim impact statement.

Penrose asked Judge Elva Duffy that any sentence would be backdated. He indicated he intended to appeal and asked for a transcript.

Judge Duffy noted in sentencing that when Penrose was interviewed by gardaí he accepted the threat was made but said he was angry and upset and did not intend that it would be carried out.

She said this was a serious matter and said prison officers should be in a position to go about their day without threats being made.

The judge said Penrose had represented himself very ably and made a number of concessions, including that the words had been spoken, but the case for him had turned on intention.

Judge Duffy imposed a two-year sentence and ordered he be given credit for any time spent in custody solely on this charge.