Longford woman terrorised by ‘ill-mannered brats’ pointed gun at Detective

It would be “a brave person, youth or otherwise” that goes near the home of a Longford woman who pointed an imitation firearm at a Detective Garda after she was “terrorised” by a group of “ill-mannered brats”, according to a Longford Circuit Court Judge.
Ann Duke (51), of 25 Great Water Street, Longford, told the court that she has been harassed by a number of young people for a prolonged period of time and that she has had enough.

“This is going on for the last four years of annoyance and harassment and I’m not going to put up with it. I had my window put in, doors broken and everything,” an irate Ms Duke told the court as her sentence hearing got underway.
“Take a deep breath,” said an understanding Judge Kenneth Connolly, “I have read all of your file. This business of throwing pizza at your door and kicking it in is not acceptable, but you’re here because you are charged with a criminal offence.”
In February of this year, Ms Duke pleaded guilty to the obstruction of a peace officer, and possession of an imitation firearm, charges which arose after she chased a number of youths through town with a pellet gun.

A charge of endangerment was marked taken into consideration, while a nolle prosequi was entered for charges of unlawful possession of ammunition, unlawful possession of a firearm, and reckless discharge of a firearm.
In his evidence, Detective Sergeant Keelin Brennan told the court that, on January 4, 2023, a number of youths aged between 14 and 16 were returning from playing football when they passed Ms Duke’s house. Four of the youths knocked on her door and ran away towards the town, turning left towards Tesco.

“Ann Duke came out and followed them. She appeared to have a handgun in her hand at that stage. The four youths ran in the direction of Tesco shopping centre and went down to a house in Camlin Mews,” said Det Sgt Brennan, referring to a nearby housing estate.
“They stopped in the house temporarily and, when they came out and walked back towards Tesco, they came across Ann Duke on the other side of the road.”
One of the youths told Gardaí that Ms Duke had fired five shots from the firearm, while another said he heard three shots and Ms Duke shouting “I will shoot”.

When one of the youths ran back to his home in Camlin Mews and informed his parents of what was going on, Ms Duke followed and began banging on the door, shouting “open the f**king door”. The boy’s father rang 999 at approximately 5.50pm.
The court also heard that Ms Duke chased some of the youths to the Cathedral, where they had run to hide. They remained there until Ms Duke left.
With the Armed Support Unit an hour and a half away, Detective Garda Seán Galvin, who was armed and wearing a specialist Garda jacket, attended at Ms Duke’s house.

When Det Gda Galvin and Gda Fahy first called to the house, it was in darkness and two dogs were looking out the window. However, when they returned a short time later, there was a light on and the door was open.
The court heard that Det Gda Galvin opened the door a little further and knocked, identifying himself as a member of An Garda Síochána before opening the internal door.
As he opened the door, he observed Ms Duke pointing a gun at him at chest level. Det Gda Galvin informed her that he was armed and told her to put the gun down.
He put his hands in the air and said “put the gun down, this is the Gardaí”, before stepping in, taking Ms Duke’s arm and grabbing the imitation firearm.

“He stated he was an armed Garda and ordered her to drop the gun. A struggle ensued and he subsequently overpowered her,” said Det Sgt Brennan.
Ms Duke was arrested at that point and brought to Longford Garda Station, where she engaged fully with Gardaí.
“She said she was at home, half asleep, and heard a kick at her door. She had a pellet gun in her hand, so she went out, saw the youths and shot two pellets,” said prosecuting barrister Shane Geraghty.
Ms Duke told Gardaí that she had purchased the pellet gun from a local shop for €115. Judge Connolly remarked that he knew the shop in question and, in fact, was aware that such pellet guns were on display in the window.

She also told Gardaí that she had the pellet gun to scare off the birds that ate her apples. She said she had it on her all the time and the kids knew she had it. She told Gardaí she was having ongoing issues with the youths over a period of time.
She denied she heard Det Gda Galvin shout “Gardaí” when he arrived at the house and indicated her intention was to scare off the kids.

Ms Duke’s home was subsequently searched and in the course of the search, there was an old firearm discovered and seized, which was understood to have belonged to a family member of Ms Duke’s.
When asked what he knew about Ms Duke, Det Sgt Brennan said she was a lady in her 50s, residing on her own in the family home. She has seven siblings and has lived at the house for most of, if not all of her life.

“She has some health issues regarding anxiety,” he said, “and she is subject to ongoing anti-social behaviour from these youths.”
The court heard that Ms Duke had made numerous reports to Gardaí regarding youths throwing eggs at her home, loitering outside her house, throwing stones and even throwing pizza at her windows.
Ms Duke has no previous convictions, but has had some dismissals under the Probation Act for similar matters involving an imitation firearm.

“The ideal scenario in whatever sentence is imposed, is that there will be a condition that she doesn’t have a firearm or imitation firearm,” said Mr Geraghty.
Judge Connolly, having listened carefully to the evidence said that he “can’t condone any criminality” but the fact was that “this matter arose from criminality”.

“There’s no doubt about that, Judge, they were trying to get a rise out of her,” Det Sgt Brennan agreed.
“And, with no disrespect to Ms Duke, it isn’t difficult to get a rise out of her,” said Judge Connolly, adding that Ms Duke was in fact a victim.
“I have sympathy for her having to put up with these ill-mannered brats,” he added.
Det Sgt Brennan agreed that members of An Garda Síochána have sympathy with her as well and stated that, as recently as July 13, Ms Duke has been subject to attacks on her home.

“Where are the parents of these ill-mannered brats? It is their job to provide guidance, welfare and education on boundaries,” said Judge Connolly.
Det Gda Galvin, for his part, opted not to provide a victim impact statement and instead wished Ms Duke well. However, he conveyed to the court that the incident had a heavy impact on him and that he hoped it would be finalised.
“If anyone looks crossways at a Garda, they’ll go to jail, that’s my motto. But this is a very, very unique case,” said Judge Connolly.

“It is extraordinary that a person can know they have access to the protection of the law when they make an emergency call, but there’s an ignoring of the root cause - the harassment of this woman.
“This is no criticism of An Garda Síochána, but if this lady continues to be targeted by these youths - these young men - if any of them come before me, they’ll be dealt with most severely.

“This lady’s window is on the street. The sofa is beside the window. She lives in a small space. I think this would be very frightening and I want to stress that this is absolutely not in criticism of An Garda Síochána, but it is a unique case.
“Unfortunately, she doesn’t have the funding to put up cameras at the house, but that would solve the issue.”
Senior Counsel for Ms Duke, Dara Foynes, said that, were it not for the fact her client’s house goes “directly onto the street”, she’d have had a defence under the Defence and the Dwelling Act 2011.
“But she was immediately out on a public street with a firearm which is readily available to anybody without any questions asked and that’s not lost on the court,” said Ms Foynes.

“I don’t have confidence that this anti-social behaviour will cease. I would be concerned there would be another occurrence and she’d be in peril.”
Judge Connolly stressed that there can be “no repeat” of this behaviour by Ms Duke, despite the ongoing anti-social behaviour.
“Although I have every sympathy for her, there will be no repeat of this behaviour,” he said.
“I’m also putting out the message that there should be no repeat of the behaviour by these young men, who are targeting a vulnerable person.”

He noted Ms Duke’s love of gardening and that she has been volunteering at a local garden for some time and said his preferred punishment for these offences would be Community Service that would allow her to do similar work.
He proceeded to put the case back to November 11, 2024 for sentence and ordered a probation report to assess her suitability for Community Service.

“I’m also going to ask them to see if there’s any Restorative Justice Programme they can put in place. Ms Duke is only here because of the actions of the youths in the area,” he said, adding a condition to her bail that she have no firearm or imitation firearm in her possession.

Ms Duke was remanded on bail to November 5, when the probation report will be furnished to the court and sentence will be finalised.