Lee Mitchell
A father-of-three who awoke from a drunken slumber to find a man allegedly performing a sex on him has been jailed for six years after brutally attacking the man.
Lee Mitchell went into an uncontrolled frenzy and stabbed pensioner Patrick McLaughlin at least 20 times at a house in Carndonagh, Co Donegal on May 30th, 2014.
So severe was the attack that the 74 year old lost the sight in one of his eyes and is now on a care home.
Mitchell, formerly of Windmill View Letterkenny pleaded guilty to a Section 4 assault causing serious harm to Mr McLaughlin at 1, Ard Bhride, Carndonagh when he appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court.
Garda Dermot Kenny told the court that gardai were called by the occupants of the house next to 74-year-old Mr McLaughlin around 10.20pm on the day of the incident.
Mitchell’s former girlfriend lived at No2 and her parents said Mitchell had come into their home and said: “I’m only after murdering yer man next door. I hit him with a crutch and stuck (stabbed) him four times with a screwdriver – how am I going to get out of this. I need petrol to get rid of the evidence.”
Garda Kenny said a colleague entered No2 and heard “a gurgling sound”.
He found Mr McLaughlin covered in blood sitting on a chair. There were blood splatter marks all over the living room.
Forensic tests found Mitchell had stabbed Mr McLaughlin 33 times using a knife, a screwdriver and the handles of both a frying pan and a pot.
Mitchell later admitted taking heroin, drinking Buckfast and taking 20 diazepam tablets.
During a garda interview the day after the incident, Garda Kenny said, Mitchell claimed he had been walking to the Montgomery house when Patrick McLaughlin came to the front door and called him in.
He said he had been drinking with Mr McLaughlin had fallen asleep.
Questioned by Peter Nolan, defending Mitchell, Garda Kenny confirmed that Mitchell told detectives he had woken up because he felt pressure on his legs.
He said he looked down and saw Mr McLaughlin performing an alleged sex act on him.
“I lifted the shaft of a brush. I hit him on the head – I saw a screw driver – I know I stabbed him in the neck. I was in a frenzy,” Mitchell had told detectives.
“He (Mr McLaughlin) was screaming and trying to get off his seat.”
Mitchell said he believed the attack had lasted two minutes but he could not remember.
Cleaning agents were also found to have been used at the scene but Mitchell could not remember any attempt to clean up after him.
Garda Kenny said Mitchell didn’t remember using other implements during the attack on Mr McLaughlin apart from the screwdriver and the brush shaft.
Mr Nolan referred to a forensic report which showed DNA from Mr McLaughlin inside the underpants of Mr Mitchell.
Medical reports showed that Mr McLaughlin suffered 33 lacerations including up to 20 stab wounds. The pensioner spent two months in hospital and has been in long term care since the incident and is unable to return to independent living. He had also lost sight in one eye as a result of the wounds.
The reports also showed that Mr McLaughlin had mild to moderate cognitive impairment but doctors could not say if this was as a result of the attack.
Garda Kenny said Mr McLaughlin had also denied carrying out a sex attack on Mitchell.
When asked during garda interviews about drinking with Mr McLaughlin on a different occasion, Mitchell said he had done so and that during the previous meeting Mr McLaughlin had asked him to go to bed.
“I just laughed because I thought he was joking,” Mitchell had told gardai.
The court was told that Mitchell had 40 previous convictions, two for assault, and had been in and out of prison since he was sixteen years old.
He had a horrific upbringing, had been sexually abused, his parents had split up and he had little formal education.
He was also a heroin addict and an alcoholic and had tried to take his life on a number of occasions, the court heard.
Barrister Peter Nolan also revealed how Mitchell had been in a crash and had received €50,000 in compensation but had spent it all in less than six months on drink and drugs.
Mitchell took to the stand and apologised to his victim.
“I’m deeply sorry for the hurt and pain I caused. I’m really sorry for what I done. I’m sorry to whole community. This is not me. I’m not that person,” he said.
He said he wished to get on with his life, was now working in the prison kitchen and wanted to go to Killybegs Catering College when released from prison and work in the catering industry.
Passing sentence Judge John O’Hagan said he was looking at sentencing Mitchell to seven and a half years as the attack was at the lower end of the higher range of offences.
He said the attack on Mr McLaughlin was done in an “uncontrollable frenzy.”
He said there were a number of mitigating circumstances including Mitchell’s early plea, the fact that he had been drug and alcohol free as proven by urinary tests since January and that he was now engaging with the prison services.
Judge O’Hagan said that while it was not an excuse for the savage attack on Mr McLaughlin, he said there is strong forensic evidence to suggest something did happen of a sexual nature.
He added that Mitchell has completed a number of courses, and despite the probation services saying there is a high risk that he could reoffend, Judge O’Hagan said he believes that Mitchell does have “a genuine remorse.”
He sentenced him to six years in prison and backdated it until July 23rd last when Mitchell was taken into custody.