Waterford man jailed for entering neighbour's home with knives
Waterford Courthouse.
A Waterford man has been handed a 10-month prison sentence for an incident where he entered his neighbour's flat, pointing a knife at her.
David Manahan (61), of Apartment 1, Grange Cohan, St John’s Park, pleaded guilty at Waterford District Court to burglary, trespass and production of an article capable of inflicting serious injury.
The court was told that on December 16, 2025, gardaí received a call from the injured party that her neighbour had repeatedly banged on her door before entering the property, holding two knives.
The injured party told gardaí that he stayed for five minutes and had pointed a knife at her in a threatening manner.
The injured party wrote a victim impact statement, which was handed into the court.
The defendant has no previous convictions, the court was told.
Acting for the defendant, solicitor John O’Donoghue told the court that on the day of the incident, his client was experiencing an episode of psychosis.
He said the defendant “went down a rabbit hole” believing there was a man in the flat who shouldn’t be and he went up to attack that person.
When his neighbour answered the door, he froze.
The solicitor said the defendant does not know why he did it, other than because of the episode, and he is very sorry for his actions.
Mr Donoghue told the court that his client read the victim impact statement, and it “struck home” the consequences of the incident on the injured party.
He accepts that he will be given a custodial sentence and, on his release, he will have nowhere to go.
Judge Kevin Staunton said he had sympathy for the defendant and could accept that, given he has no previous convictions, the incident was “out of character”.
However, the judge said the “gravity” of the incident had to be the focus, and a lengthy custodial sentence was appropriate.
“It must have been a horrendously frightening experience for this young lady who is not from Ireland,” said Judge Staunton.
Judge Staunton imposed two 10-month prison sentences to run concurrently and backdated them to when the defendant went into custody in December.
He fixed recognisances at €500, ordered that the victim, who was not in court, be informed of the decision and the defendant’s “deep apology”.
