A man who was found guilty of intimidating a witness in a trial at the Criminal Courts of Justice has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Karl Fish (28) of Ashgrove, The Coombe had pleaded not guilty to intimidating Matthew McMahon on May 31, 2011 at the courts building on Parkgate Street in Dublin, with the intention of causing the course of justice to be interfered with.

Sergeant Brian Howie told prosecuting counsel Fiona Murphy BL, that Mr McMahon was the witness in a court case involving Fish.

As McMahon left Court 4 at lunch time Fish approached him at the turnstiles. Fish started to stare at Mr Mahon and shouted “You better not come back here after lunch.”

There was a group of people with Fish and Sgt Howie agreed that there was a suggestion that another person shouted “Is that the guy?”

Mr McMahon spoke to Garda Sarah Keogh and he identified Fish as the man who shouted at him.

The case proceeded to a trial and Fish was convicted of the offence by a jury.

In a victim impact report, Mr McMahon said he became “a nervous wreck, constantly having to look over his shoulder.”

“My family were quite nervous too about me being out on my own and the trial was quite stressful and nerve wrecking,” Mr McMahon stated in the report.

Sgt Howie agreed with defence counsel Eoghan Cole BL, that Fish had picked himself out on CCTV footage.

Mr Cole said Fish, who was orphaned when he was eight, was raised by his grandmother but in his teens he associated with people who got into trouble.

“He had a brain haemorrhage six years ago and his offending got worse,” said Mr Cole, adding that Fish is on medication for epilepsy.

“He accepts the jury’s verdict and apologises to the injured party,” counsel said

Judge Patricia Ryan noted that Fish intends to take up Life Line Recovery help and is free of benzodiazepine in the last number of months.

She sentenced him to 18 months in prison which she backdated to February 22, 2014 and ordered that he not have any contact with the injured party.