A 47-year-old man who held his wife, a judge and a barrister in a Dublin courtroom just before Christmas 2018 has been jailed for six years.
Edmond Dunican, of Stadium Bus Park, Ballycoolin, Dublin 15, put all of them in fear of their lives when he pulled out what appeared to be a gun.
The 17-minute siege began with Dunican telling the judge he had a “big problem” with one of the barristers.
He then pulled a black gun from his briefcase and opened his jacket to reveal what appeared to be a homemade bomb.
The barrister cowered under a bench, in fear he was going to shoot her in the head.
Dunican told the judge she could leave, but she refused to abandon her courtroom.
Despite her own fears for her life, she remained calm and asked him to drop the gun.
Her registrar raised the alarm by pressing a panic button under her desk as she left.
Armed gardaí arrived soon afterwards, and the siege was brought to a peaceful end.
Both the gun and the bomb turned out to be very realistic looking fakes.
Dunican was said to be “incredibly stressed” at the time. He was described as a man under pressure who was at his “lowest ebb”.
He accepted full responsibility and apologised for what he did.
Today, he was sentenced to eight years in prison, with the final two years suspended.
