A young man who threatened to kill a postmaster and his wife after he arrived late to claim his social welfare payment has been jailed for ten months.
Philip Dodoo appeared at Letterkenny District Court in Co Donegal, charged with a number of offences.
The court heard how the 23-year-old arrived at the post office on Main Street in Dungloe on December 20th last and caused a scene.
In footage widely circulated on social media, Dodoo can be seen and heard threatening staff before storming out of the building.
He was later arrested by Gardai and has been in custody in Castlerea Prison since the incident.
The accused man is charged with assault at the Post Office, Main Street, Dungloe on December 20, 2024, and with a breach of the Public Order Act at The Cope, Main Street, Dungloe on the same date.
Sergeant Jim Collins outlined the events of the day and said that the Director of Public Prosecutions had agreed that the case could be dealt with summarily by the district court.
He told how Dodoo had arrived at the post office and while queuing he became agitated and threatened to kill the local postmaster and his wife who were working at the premises.
Sergeant Collins told how there were a number of people in the post office at the time of the incident.
He agreed that footage of the incident had receive “some traction” on social media.
When arrested later, Dodoo also had a small amount of cannabis on him.
Judge Ciaran Liddy asked the court if a victim impact report had been canvassed on behalf of the postmaster and his wife?
Investigating Garda Thomas McBride said the couple are now back working but were prepared to make statements if they were needed.
Solicitor for the accused, Mr Patsy Gallagher, said his client was in custody since the incident on December 20th, 2024 and was anxious to have the matters dealt with.
He said the reality of the situation was that his client suffered from mental health issues and that it was the State who had let him down.
Mr Gallagher said Dodoo was now aged 24 and was born in Ireland is is an Irish national and from Letterkenny.
He had no connection whatsoever with the West Donegal town of Dungloe but had been ‘landed there from another premises’ with his compatriots.
Mr Gallagher said his client has some serious health concerns and that there were simply not the facilities to deal with him in a rural town in Donegal.
“Mr Dodoo has received assistance in Letterkenny due to it being a larger town, assistance that he requires. These facilities were simply not available in Dungloe. This was a scary situation and it got a lot of traction on social media – it was not needed, required or wanted.
“But the reality is that my client has substantial mental health issues and was treated for them at a young age but at 18 years old he was let go to the wind.
“He was taken out of the facilities he was in and put in rural Dungloe and some blame for all of this has to lie with the State for this terrifying experience,” he said.
He said his client has now stabilised again with treatment in prison and wishes to apologise for what happened on the day.
Mr Gallagher added “This is a man from a large town who was planted on the West coast of Ireland and could not make the post office in time for his social welfare.
“Dublin doesn’t seem to worry about that once a line which is drawn from Dublin to Galway is crossed. This is a young man who needs assistance and I would ask the court to take that into account when dealing with it.”
The court was told that the accused has a number of previous convictions for criminal damage and public order offences.
Judge Liddy sentenced Dodoo to ten months in prison, suspending the last three months of that sentence and backdating the sentence to when the accused went into prison on December 20th meaning he still has approximately four months to serve.