Man sentenced to two‑year suspended term for demanding drug debt payment in Cobh

A 23‑year‑old man was given a two‑year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to demanding payment of a drug debt with menaces in Cobh.

Detective Garda Peter Moran testified that on 30 September 2023, Cian Mannix approached the victim outside a Centra shop on Rushbrook, demanded over €1,300 for the victim’s son’s drug debt and referenced the victim’s other children by name. The victim said the threat left him so frightened he waited two months before reporting the incident to An Garda Síochána.

Gardaí arrested Mannix at his Cobh home and charged him with demanding money with menaces. In court he answered all questions with “No comment on instructions of my solicitor.”

The defendant, who has previous convictions for assault and threatening behaviour, was represented by defence barrister Alan O’Dwyer. O’Dwyer said Mannix was in a manic state due to alcohol and drug abuse at the time of the offence and had written a letter of apology.

Mannix spent five months on remand. Judge Boyle set a headline sentence of three years but reduced it to two years, citing mitigating factors and the time already served, and then suspended the sentence.

The sentencing was adjourned from February to allow the defendant to demonstrate progress in turning his life around.

Source: Irish Examiner. Photo: Dahlia E. Akhaine / Pexels.