A 25-year-old soldier drove to his sister’s house and smashed her windows with a hammer after a disagreement on a night out.
Darren Doherty, from Glendale Manor in Letterkenny, appeared before Letterkenny District Court charged with criminal damage.
The court heard how Doherty traveled to the Gort na Greinne estate in Letterkenny in his white Berlingo van.
Once at his sister’s house he took a hammer from the van and smashed a number of windows.
Gardai who arrived on the scene saw a number of smashed windows as well as shards of glass which had blood on them.
CCTV footage from the estate showed Doherty arriving in his van at 8.45pm on July 14th last and leaving against just ten minutes later at 8.56pm.
Solicitor for the accused, Mr Kieran Dillon said there had been a disagreement earlier in the night when extended members of the family were socialising.
He said one word borrowed another and Mr Doherty had let his emotions get the better of him.
He said his client knew now that his actions were totally wrong and he was sorry for what he had done.
He added that his client had already paid his sister €500 in compensation for the damage he caused to her house.
The court was told that Doherty was in the army and had been chosen to go overseas.
He is 25 years of age and has just got engaged to his girlfriend which his family are very pleased about, added Mr Dillon.
However, Judge Paul Kelly said he was concerned about a number of things including the fact that Doherty went and got a hammer and then went to his sister’s house to cause criminal damage.
He adjourned the case until November 20th and said he was seeking to get a Probation Report in the case.