Three men have been handed prison sentences for their parts in a vicious assault on another man in Letterkenny.
John Tierney, Danny Tierney and Brian Cairney appeared at Donegal Circuit Court.
All three were charged with assault causing harm to Patrick O’Shea at Celtic Apartments, Pearse Road, Letterkenny, on June 23, 2020.
John Tierney, a 35-year-old already serving a sentence at Castlerea Prison, was brought to court by prison officers and was given a prison sentence of two years and eight months, but the entirety of the term was suspended. He is, however, already serving a five-and-a-half-year sentence for other offences.
Danny Tierney, a 41-year-old of Celtic Apartments, Pearse Road, Letterkenny, was jailed for two years and four months, with the final one year and four months suspended.
Cairney, a 50 year old with an address at Oliver Plunkett Road, Letterkenny, was handed a fully suspended 20-month prison sentence.
Details of the incident were outlined in court by Garda Sergeant Maurice Doyle.
He told how Mr O’Shea had admitted he had been drinking and had gone to Celtic Apartments looking to buy drugs.
He went to a flat which was occupied by the Tierneys and by Cairney.
CCTV footage played in court showed Mr O’Shea arriving at a window of an apartment.
It then showed three men emerging from the flat and becoming aggressive with Mr O’Shea.
The three men claimed they went outside as Mr O’Shea had been wielding a knife and that they felt threatened.
During interview, Mr O’Shea claimed his legs had been held apart and that he had received a number of blows in the testicles from a hurley stick and also a golf club from the Tierneys while he had received a number of kicks from Cairney.
Cairney claimed the victim had said something about his mother and that he did kick him but that he never had a weapon at any stage.
Gardai were called by a local resident and when they arrived they found the victim on the ground.
Two pieces of a hurley stick were found on the ground and the victim had injuries to his left eye and blood was coming from his nostrils.
He also told Gardai that his testicles were “as hard as rocks” and “red raw” after he had been beaten and that he had bruising all over his body.
However, the court was told that Mr O’Shea declined to give a victim impact statement to the court.
All three accused were interviewed by Garda as part of the investigation.
John Tierney identified himself in the CCTV footage but claimed that he only went outside the flat as Mr O’Shea had produced a knife and called them outside.
Danny Tierney also identified himself on CCTV footage but said he had “lost it” and “flipped” when he saw that Mr O’Shea had a knife in his hand.
Brian Cairney admitted giving the victim “a few kicks” but said he didn’t act “over aggressively” adding that he didn’t use a weapon at any stage.
Judge Aylmer said John Tierney has a “very bad record” and is currently serving a lengthy sentence in prison for reckless endangerment and robbery.
Before mitigation, Judge Aylmer said a four-year prison sentence was appropriate for John Tierney. He said the offence was on the upper end.
Judge Aylmer said a plea of guilty was valuable and it was noted that John Tierney has been behaving well in prison and using his time behind bars well.
John Tierney has obtained certificates for addiction counselling and has completed the Pro Social Driving Course, the court was informed.
The Judge said his role was the “gravest of the three” involved in the incident, but remarked that it was clear that the accused is anxious to rehabilitate.
“You will have plenty of time to consider rehabilitation given that you are already serving such lengthy sentences,” Judge Aylmer said.
Judge Aylmer said it was appropriate to reduce the sentence to one of two years and eight months in prison, to run after his current five-and-a-half year sentence.
Having regard to the totality principle and in order to incentivise rehabilitation, Judge Aylmer said he would suspend the entirety of the sentence for a period of two years and eight months on condition that John Tierney enter a bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for a period of two years and eight months.
He will also go under the supervision of the Probation Service following his release from prison.
Judge Aylmer said Danny Tierney was involved in “quite a vicious attack” and wielded a hurley stick in the incident.
It was noted that the victim in the case had arrived at the house brandishing a large knife and began knocking on the window with it.
While Judge Aylmer said that this caused alarm and caused Tierney to go outside with the hurley, he “went much too far”.
“It is acknowledged that the attack went far beyond anything that can be categorised as self defence. The circumstances of how the assault arose are irrelevant.”
Before taking into account the mitigation, he said Danny Tierney’s offending merited a starting point of three-and-a-half years in prison.
Tierney was “entirely cooperative” and followed with an early plea, the Judge said.
While there was “relatively little” in the way of previous conviction, Tierney did have two previous convictions for common assault.
The sentence was reduced to one of two years and four months in prison.
Noting that there were positive indications for rehabilitation, Judge Aylmer suspended the final one year and four months of the sentence for a period of one year and four months.
Following his release from prison, Danny Tierney will go under the supervision of the Probation Service for 12 months, during which time he is ordered to comply with all directions in relation to his rehabilitation.
Judge Aylmer said Brian Cairney’s role in the assault was the “least culpable”. However, he said CCTV showed Cairney kicking O’Shea a number of times.
“It was a lesser role you played and you were unarmed,” Judge Aylmer told Cairney.
Placing the offence in the mid-range, Judge Aylmer said the offence merited a headline sentence of two-and-a-half years in prison.
Cairney was, said Judge Aylmer, cooperative with the investigation and pleaded guilty to the offence.
Judge Aylmer said the accused has a history of drug addiction and homelessness, while he has also suffered from mental health issues.
Cairney was deemed as being of a high risk of reoffending, but it appeared, Judge Aylmer said, that the accused was genuinely remorseful. He has now settled down and is in a stable relationship, which has had a positive influence.
Given his cooperation and the guilty plea, Judge Aylmer said the sentence could be reduced to one of 20 months in prison.
Judge Aylmer said the court could “take a chance” on Cairney and suspended the entirety of the sentence for 20 months.
Cairney will go under the supervision of the Probation Service and he was ordered to comply with all directions.
Cairney must reside at an address agreed with by the Probation Service; provide his telephone contact details to the Probation Service; attend all appointments offered; cooperate with and complete any offence-focussed work which is to include the Choice for Change programme; cooperate with and complete any addiction related programme; and he must abstain completely from alcohol and unprescribed drugs.