Man who claimed to be Jesus threatened woman with knife weeks before killing his mother

An amateur kickboxer who was “frothing at the mouth” when he barged into a terrified grandmother’s home has appeared in court charged with holding a butcher’s knife to the woman’s neck and demanding €3,000 just weeks before he killed his own mother.

Luke Donnelly (30), with former addresses of Riverbank, Drogheda, County Louth, and Killucan, County Westmeath, appeared before Mullingar Circuit Court, where he faced charges of aggravated burglary while armed with a kitchen knife, and assault causing harm.

The aggravated burglary took place on April 13, 2023, at an address in Grange Heights, Mullingar, County Westmeath, and the assault causing harm took place on August 8, 2022, at an address on Delvin Road, Mullingar. Guilty pleas were entered to the assault and a lesser charge of burglary.

In June of this year, Mr Donnelly was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, with the final 12 months suspended, for the manslaughter of his mother, Catherin Henry (62) in Dundalk, County Louth, on May 23, 2023.

The killing took place within six weeks of the aggravated burglary at Grange Heights in April of that year, when Mr Donnelly and another man who is also due before the courts this month arrived at the door.

The woman in her 50s opened the door to see two men, with a third in a car, which was parked facing into her driveway. Mr Donnelly was “frothing at the mouth”, she said.

Garda James Grogan told Cathal Ó’Braonáin, BL, instructed by state solicitor Matt Shaw, that Mr Donnelly had asked the woman where her son was, claiming he owed him €3,000.

The woman told them her son wasn’t home, that she’d thrown him out, but the two men ran into her house and into the kitchen where Mr Donnelly retrieved a butcher-style knife before running up to her son’s locked bedroom door and stabbing and kicking it.

The accused man also smashed the front windows of the house and destroyed a television which had belonged to the woman’s recently deceased grandchild.

“I don’t give a fuck about your grandchild,” he told her while he stamped on the TV. He then held the nine-inch, wooden-handled knife to the woman’s chest and told her to have his money by that evening or he’d burn her house down and kill her.

In her victim impact statement, the woman said she had “never seen a young lad with such hatred”, and that she is now terrified to be in her own home.

She said the events of that day were the “scariest, most frightening time of my life”, because “my life flashed in front of me; I thought I was going to die”.

The assault in August 2022 took place when a man in his 20s was leaving Mullingar after attending the Fleadh Cheoil.

Garda Brian Campbell told the court that the injured party boarded a bus, where Mr Donnelly was present with a woman, and filming passengers while threatening to burn down their houses.

The victim and the accused got off the bus following an interaction during which the injured party told Mr Donnelly “not to be a bollocks”.

Initially, the pair went to shake hands, but the bus driver witnessed Mr Donnelly punching the other man in the jaw. The victim could not recall portions of the night and only remembered getting back on the bus, where other passengers informed him he had been assaulted.

The man required hospital treatment for a broken jaw, but has since made a full recovery. He opted not to supply the court with a victim impact statement.

Aside from his most recent conviction for manslaughter, Mr Donnelly has one previous conviction for public order in 2019, and three for possession of drugs for sale or supply in 2014.

Conall McCarthy, SC, defending, proffered an apology to the victims on Mr Donnelly’s behalf. He told the court that, on the day of the burglary, he was sweating and frothing at the mouth like someone on drugs.

He told the court that Mr Donnelly has “a serious drug problem”, which led to hallucinations and, “at periods he thought he was Jesus Christ”. At one stage, he drove from Dublin to Mullingar and walked on foot to Knock because he believed he was Jesus, the court heard.

Mr Donnelly engaged in “erratic behaviour”, was aggressive and alienated himself from family and friends. Originally from Dublin, he had what Mr McCarthy described as a “chaotic upbringing”. He was rendered homeless at 13, alongside his sister, before being taken in by his father.

He experienced violence from his mother as a child, the court heard, and started using drugs at an early age. He later became involved in the sale and supply of drugs, sometimes “at the behest of his mother”.

His experiences with drugs began with cannabis in his mid-teens, and he had moved on to ecstasy, MDMA, LSD and ketamine by the time he turned 20.

Psychological and psychiatric reports furnished to the court detailed an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, and a number of documents provided gave “considerable evidence" of a large number of courses completed by Mr Donnelly as “he’s trying to turn his life around”.

Judge Deirdre Browne, having heard the evidence, remanded Mr Donnelly in continuing custody to later in the sittings, when he will appear via video link for sentence.

Supported by the Courts Reporting Scheme