A French father-of-two who threatened his partner with a knife in their home was apprehended by an off-duty garda who happened to be passing, a court has heard.
Franck Lamour (53) was diagnosed with bi-polar depression approximately 15 years ago and was unable to access the medication he had been taking during the Covid-19 lockdown last April.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that this was an isolated incident which stemmed from Lamour's mental disorder and the restrictions on his life caused by the global pandemic.
Lamour of Bird Avenue, Clonskeagh, pleaded guilty to production of a knife and threat to kill or cause serious harm at his address on April 7th, 2020. He has no previous convictions.
Detective Garda Alan Conlon told Diana Stuart BL, prosecuting, that Lamour and his partner of 25 years Cecille Doussinault and their two sons moved here from France in September 2019.
Self-medicating
Det Gda Conlon said Lamour does not speak English and that after two months in the country he began self-medicating with alcohol, though he stopped drinking after seeing a doctor. He began drinking again a week prior to the offence.
On the day of the incident he had being drinking for approximately 12 hours. Ms Doussinault woke up to find him in the living room still under the influence of alcohol.
He told Ms Doussinault that it was her fault “for bringing him here”, took her phone away from her and told her not to leave the room. He asked her to buy him vodka, but when she declined he said they would go together.
Lamour got a knife from the kitchen and told her not to shout for help. Ms Doussinault attempted to wake one of her sons by opening his bedroom door, but Lamour brought the knife close and told her not to wake him up or “it would not be good for you”.
Kinfepoint
The accused “effectively walked her down to the shops” with the knife in his jacket pocket, the court heard. When Ms Doussinault refused to go into the shop, Lamour began running back to their home, followed quickly by Ms Doussinault who was fearful for her sons.
Garda Martin O'Rourke was in the area off-duty and noticed the two running back to their home. He decided to follow them, went to the back of the house and saw through the window the accused with a knife in his hand.
Gda O'Rourke entered the house, told Lamour to drop the knife and restrained him. He then contacted gardaí who soon arrived and arrested the accused.
Isolated incident
Det Gda Conlon agreed with Barry Ward BL, defending, that while this was “obviously terrifying” for the victim, it was an isolated incident. He agreed that Lamour has followed all conditions of his bail and not had any contact with his former partner.
The garda agreed that Lamour is “not a domestic abuser in the traditional sense”, saying the offences appear to have stemmed from the circumstances of his mental disorder and the "restrictions on his life" caused by the global pandemic.
Mr Ward said that the medication his client used to treat his Type-2 bi-polar disorder is not prescribed in Ireland and his client would travel to France to collect it.
He said his client was prevented from travelling to France by the lockdown that came into effect in March 2020.
Counsel said a psychiatrist has stated in a report before the court that his client has 79% disability as a result of his condition. He said his client is now managing his condition and it is “extremely unlikely” an incident such as this will recur.
Judge Pauline Codd said she would like some assurance that Lamour is under appropriate medical care. She adjourned the case for finalisation to March 16th, next.
