A Letterkenny man has been jailed for six months for a serious assault in a busy car park in the town.
Matthew Lafferty, who has 67 previous convictions, attacked Michael Mawhinney at Tesco car park in Letterkenny on July 12, 2023.
The 35-year-old, with an address at Calhame, Letterkenny, has been in custody since being refused bail on July 13th at Buncrana District Court.
Lafferty was brought to Letterkenny District Court this week from Castlerea Prison for sentencing this week. He was charged with assaulting Mr Mawhinney and causing him harm.
Sergeant Jim Collins told the court that Gardai attended the scene of a reported assault at around 12 midday. Michael Mawhinney told Gardai he had been assaulted and officers observed an open 1cm wound on the back of his head.
Mr Mawhinney identified Lafferty as the man who carried out the assault.
The court heard that a video, supplied by a brother of the victim, clearly identified Lafferty as the perpetrator. He was seen hitting Mr Mawhinney and kicking him to the face and heard, Sergeant Collins said.
Lafferty has 67 previous convictions, including road traffic matters, theft, burglary and drug-related offences.
Mr Patsy Gallagher, solicitor for Lafferty, said his client, a father-of-one, has had severe drug and alcohol addiction issues.
Mr Gallagher said the victim had not come forward with a victim impact statement and said that the incident happened over the course of 15 seconds.
Lafferty was, his solicitor said, ‘contrite’ and had tendered an early guilty plea. Mr Gallagher said Lafferty’s partner had been the victim of an assault prior to his incident and a wound required 37 stitches.
“He lost control,” Mr Gallagher said, asking the court to consider the time Lafferty had already spent behind bars.
Judge Éiteáin Cunningham said a two-month sentence was not appropriate ‘given the nature of the offence’.
Judge Cunningham said she took into account the early plea and considered the time spent.
Lafferty was convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment, backdated to when he first entered custody in July.