A father and son who claimed threats to kill were made against them by another man have had the charges dismissed at Enniskillen Magistrates Court.

The threats were alleged to have been made on March 19, 2021, to the two men during an incident in which they were also assaulted, and damage was caused to a door.

Patrick McGovern (30), of Springtown Road, Kinawley, accepted the two counts of common assault against the men and one of criminal damage – but contested the two threats to kill charges at a hearing at Enniskillen Magistrates Court on Monday.

Derrylin man Peter Lunney and his son, Gareth, made the claims after Patrick McGovern had confronted them at their property following the sentencing of his brother, Bernard McGovern, to more than three years in prison for assaulting Mannok Directors Kevin Lunney and Dara O’Reilly in 2019.

Gareth Lunney told the court he was working at his business at around noon when he heard someone shouting, asking him to come out.

He then saw McGovern on the factory floor and when he said he was not going out, he said McGovern said: “Come out to f*** – I want you out here.”

Mr. Lunney said McGovern was “quite aggressive”, and when he refused to go out, the defendant made a pounce at him and grabbed his shoulder before being restrained.

The court heard Mr. Lunney then went into another building to protect himself and bolted the door.

However, he claimed McGovern pulled on the door and it “disintegrated”, and said: “Come out you cowardly f***er. I want you, and I am going to kill you.”

The witness then said he went behind a steel door before heading to his parent’s house to raise the alarm.

During cross-examination, McGovern’s barrister, Ciaran Roddy, questioned whether Mr. Lunney was being entirely truthful, to which he replied: “I have indeed.”

Mr. Roddy pointed out that a document shown to the court relating to the damaged door was not an invoice but a quotation given to Mr. Lunney with an amount he said he paid the man to fix it.

However, it transpired that Mr. Lunney had fixed the door himself, and he had told the tradesman what to write on the quotation docket.

It was also revealed that Mr. Lunney told the man a forklift had caused the damage, and he was going to use the quote for insurance purposes.

This was in contrast to what he said earlier in his evidence, that the door had been fixed the following day by the tradesman.

This was backed up by a police constable, who told the court he had spoken to the tradesman who confirmed these details, but he declined to give a statement as he did not want to get involved.

When Mr. Roddy asked why nobody else heard the threats despite employees being present, and said that they didn’t happen, Mr. Lunney replied: “It did happen, and it was said.”

Peter Lunney then gave evidence of how he was coming out of his farm lane when McGovern pulled in beside him and got out of the car acting “very aggressively” with his fist closed, and in a “very aroused state”.

He said he then pulled out onto the main road and headed towards his house, with McGovern behind him. When he got out of the car, he said McGovern was shouting obscenities, and said: “I’ll f***ing kill you.”

Mr. Roddy, during questioning, put it to Mr. Lunney that the threats were fabricated, which the witness denied.

Mr. Lunney’s wife, Rita, also gave evidence about how she saw her son, Gareth, coming out of the shed panicking, and McGovern coming onto her street, saying he was going to kill Gareth.

She said she felt very uncomfortable and very stressed, as she had never witnessed anything like it before.

McGovern was the final person to give evidence and during questioning by Mr. Roddy, he said he was very upset by his brother’s sentencing.

McGovern said he wanted to see if the Lunneys were “content” with his brother Bernard’s sentencing.

While Patrick McGovern admitted during cross-examination he was very upset and angry, he said he did not make the threats to kill.

In their submissions, the prosecution counsel, Natasha Fitzsimons, said Gareth Lunney accepted he lied but his father gave credible evidence, consistent with his statement, and the matter comes down to credibility.

Mr. Roddy drew attention to the lack of corroborating evidence, despite there being other people at the scene within earshot of the incidents.

Judge Keown said the court had real concerns about Patrick McGovern’s behaviour on the day in question, before dismissing the threat to kill charges against McGovern as he had concerns over evidence given by Gareth Lunney, while the lack of corroborating evidence for Peter Lunney raised doubt as to what was actually said.

However, for the three other charges, McGovern was fined £500, ordered to pay £98 in compensation, and given a two-year restraining order against Peter, Rita and Gareth Lunney.