A man who lit an aerosol can and sprayed it in the face of a young woman has been jailed for a year.
Kevin Quinn did not know his terrified victim Shauna McHugh when he attacked her at a Letterkenny hotel in June last year.
Quinn, 23, was among a group of people who knocked on the door of room 209 at Gallagher’s Hotel.
When Ms McHugh, 24, answered the door, Quinn sprayed a lit aerosol can into her face causing her serious burns.
The group first laughed before somebody said “Oh f**k” and they all fled.
Quinn fled the hotel without paying and changed his shirt before being arrested a short time later by Gardai.
He appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court yesterday facing two charges, one of assault and one of adapting an article into a weapon contrary to the Firearms Act.
The court was told that Quinn and some friends were in Co Donegal to follow the Donegal International Motor Rally which was taking place that weekend.
They had been messing about earlier with aerosol cans in their own room and decided to carry out the prank.
Ms McHugh had been attending the rally but had not been drinking and had called to get a phone charger form a friend’s room who was staying at the hotel.
She was rushed to nearby Letterkenny University hospital following the attack where she underwent emergency treatment.
A medical report carried out by Dr Lisa Staunton revealed how Shauna was treated for burns to her forehead and both of her eyes were inflamed.
She still had to use eye drops, could not wear contact lenses and had to wear glasses and now has a fear of crowds and busy places.
Ms McHugh was studying pharmaceutical science at the time of the attack and had to drop out of college because of a fear of being in laboratory with bunsen burners and how she thought the flames were going to burn her.
She is now working as an optimal assistant in a well-known opticians firm but is still suffering as a result of the attack.
She still has burn marks on her face which she showed Judge John O’Hagan but which she stressed were covered up by make-up.
She added that even when she showers, her face goes bright red.
In his statement to Letterkenny Circuit Court, the accused man said he was just “crying on” and that he did not go out that night to cause anybody any injury.
He added that he was drinking vodka and doesn’t remember much that happened on the night
He also apologised to Ms McHugh describing his actions as “a moment of madness.”
Judge John O’Hagan said he put the seriousness of the incident in the middle range but described the incited as being a “shocking experience” for Ms McHugh.
He jailed Quinn of of Killycanavan Road, Dungannon, Co Tyrone, to two years in prison but suspended the last year.
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