A former Donegal priest is to appear in court in the coming days charged with the indecent assault of a male.
The priest, who served in West Donegal, has already been interviewed by Gardai on a number of occasions.
He will be formally charged and will appear before the courts shortly.
His name or identity cannot be revealed at this stage.
He served in a number of parishes across the county.
A former priest has appeared in court charged with indecent assault.
The man appeared at Dungloe District Court in Co Donegal today.
He is charged with one count of indecent assault.
A book of evidence in the case was handed into the court.
Garda Inspector Seamus McGonigle told the court that the Director of Public Prosecutions has consented for the case to be heard at the next sitting of Letterkenny Circuit Court on January 28th next.
A publication order preventing the identification of the man was ordered by Judge Paul Kelly.
Inspector McGonigle said he was not objecting to bail in the case.
The man’s solicitor Mr Frank Dorrian asked for two counsel to be appointed to the man for the case.
A Judge has slammed the public for dumping recycled waste at recycling centres when they are overflowing already.
Judge Paul Kelly was speaking at Dungloe District Court in Co Donegal in the case of a woman accused of dumping a cardboard box at a recycling bank.
Grandmother Agnes Ward, aged 61, is charged with littering after being brought to court by Donegal County Council.
The council used surveillance to register Mrs Ward’s license plate number from her car.
Solicitor Jacqui Sharkey told the court that Mrs Ward was not even in the country as she was on holiday but the car was driven by her daughter.
Garda Inspector Seamus McGonagle said the offence happened at the Brong Banks at Derrybeg, Gaoth Dobhair on August 8th, 2018.
Solicitor for Donegal County Council, Kevin McElhinney, said CCTV footage of the incident showed a cardboard box being thrown out of the car close to the recycling bank.
Solicitor for the accused, Ms Sharkey described the site of the recycling bank as being in an “absolute mess.”
“It’s an absolute mess an a disgrace anyway and that appears to be like that on a regular basis,” she said.
She added that Ms Ward’s daughter had made the effort and gone to the recycling centre and that leaving the cardboard box at the centre was a “tiny blip.”
However, Judge Kelly criticised anyone who simply brought litter to recycling centres and simply dumped the rubbish there when the centres were full.
“I simply cannot understand why people bring bottles to recycling banks and leave them there when they are full.
“These centres are festooned with signs asking people not to leave these materials when they are full.
“These people then expect someone else to clean up after them.
“If I go to a recycling centre and it is full I will bring my bottles home and I will bring them back on another day,” he said.
He fined Ward, of Curransport, Meenlaragh €10 and also ordered her to pay €250 costs to the county council.
He added that perhaps Ms Ward should seek to recover the costs from those who were in her car.
A motorist who mowed down a cyclist but failed to stop and then drove by the scene of the accident just minutes later has been put off the road for two years.
Kevin Kennedy left Hugh McLaughlin in agonising pain from his injuries and fearing for his life when he struck him from behind in his Citreon Berlingo van outside Dungloe on September 2nd, 2018.
Keen cyclist McLaughlin had been out for a ride between Dochary and Dungloe around 8pm on a bright evening when the father-of-three was almost killed.
In a victim impact statement to Dungloe District Court where Kennedy appeared on dangerous driving charges, McLaughlin told how he thought he would never see his family again.
But he said the most frightening part of the crash was how the motorist who knocked him down casually drove by him minutes later in the opposite direction instead of calling for the emergency services.
McLaughlin, also from Dungloe, revealed “I was cycling from Doochary towards Dungloe on the 2nd of September 2018 at approximately 8 pm when I was struck from behind by what I now know was Kevin Kennedys van.
“It was a nice bright evening and I was wearing my hi-viz fluorescent cycling top. I had rounded a corner and was cycling downhill on a straight stretch of road probably at a speed between 30 and 35 kph when I was struck from behind and sent flying into the air and ended up landing face down in the ditch.
Kevin Kennedy who was charged with leaving the scene of an accident when he collided with cyclist Hugh McLaughlin.
“I was in total shock at what had happened and still can’t believe it. The road at that location is 7 metres wide and his van is only 2 metres. It keeps going round in my head why he was unable to avoid me. My bicycle was lying about 50 metres behind me in the ditch.
“I looked ahead of me and in disbelief and I could see the grey Citroen Berlingo van which had struck me about a hundred metres further in the road and then it disappeared out of sight. I have a great interest in cars and knew immediately who the van belonged to.
“I got up and started to examine myself and realised that I was cut quite badly on my right side and was bleeding from a gash on my arm and I was in a lot of pain but thankfully my helmet was intact. A car came along and the driver offered to ring for an ambulance for me. The ambulance arrived and assessed me and tidied up my wounds and gave me pain relief.
“The Guards arrived then and I gave them the details of the van that had hit me and while I was standing at the side of the road giving details to the Guards I saw the same van with its distinctive chrome bullbar on the front of it coming towards us but not slowing down so
“I actually walked out in front of it with my hands out in front of me in an attempt to stop it but it just passed on by. The Guards realised it was the van also and took off after it with the blue lights and siren on and stopped it a few miles out the road.”
Kennedy, of Meenderryherk, Dungloe, faced a number of charges including dangerous driving, leaving the scene of an accident and not reporting an accident.
His victim described it as a “despicable act” to drive by someone after knocking them down and then to drive by them and not to check if they were alive in dead.
He said the incident goes over and over in his head about how much worse he could have been.
He added “Thankfully I didn’t suffer any life-threatening or serious life-changing injuries. I do have ongoing pain in my right shoulder which is still under investigation and for which I’m still doing physio for.
“It goes over and over in my mind how lucky I was that I didn’t end up in the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire with spinal or head injuries like so many other cyclists have or worse still in a coffin-like so many more cyclists have.”
He adds that the crash has completely changed his outlook on life.
“I have only been out cycling a few times since I was hit as my confidence is badly affected and I’m in constant fear of getting hit by a car again. I go out mostly at night now because I can see the lights of the car coming behind me and I will pull in off the road now where possible and wait for it to pass. That is how uneasy I have become,” he said.
Kennedy wrote to the cyclist in September apologising for what he had done.
However, his victim has refused to accept his olive branch.
He said “The letter contained half a page of meaningless words. This has only added insult to injury for me. The time to apologise to me was immediately after he knocked me down while he was ringing for an ambulance. No other time. I am refusing his meaningless words.”
Mr McLaughlin said he still thinks every day about how Kennedy’s actions could have affected his family for the rest of all their lives.
He said “In my mind there can be no excuse for his actions and a clear message has to go out to all road users to respect each other on the road and abide by the law. There is a culture in rural Ireland that the law is only for those who choose to abide by it.”
Passing sentence, Judge Paul Kelly banned Kennedy of Meenderryherk, Dungloe from driving for two years and also ordered him to do one hundred hours community service in lieu of four months in prison.
A dog owner has been ordered to pay €200 to charity after his Staffordshire Bull Terrier dog attacked another small dog while he was out walking in woods.
Pensioner Neill Curran appeared at Letterkenny District Court charged with not having his dog muzzled and not having his dog under control
The 72-year-old retired nurse had been playing ‘fetch and catch’ with his dog while out walking at Glenkeo Woods outside Letterkenny on May 20th, 2018.
However, the dog, which was not muzzled, took off running after picking up the scent of another dog.
When he managed to catch up with his dog, it had another dog in the grip of its mouth and was dragging it along.
The dog, a West Highland Terrier, which was being walked by a woman, was not injured.
Mr Curran, of Kirkstown, Letterkenny, brought his dog under control and put him back in his jeep but when he returned the woman and her dog was gone.
Solicitor for the accused man, Mr Seamus Gunn, said his client was a retired psychiatric nurse who did a bit of farming but was also an animal lover who also kept two collie dogs.
He said that while out walking he did not believe there was anybody else in the area before his dog took off running after he picked up the scent of another dog.
“At worst this was careless but he could not foresee what was going to happen. It is customary and dogs run free sometimes and we see it all the time on beaches.
“We have to be careful because this does occur but the last thing on his mind was that his dog was going to pick up a scent and take off like this,” said Mr Gunn.
Judge Paul Kelly said that he has said before that many dog-owners have a very different view of the world than other people.
He said the problem in this particular case is that Mr Curran’s breed of dog is a specific type of dog which was required to be muzzled by law which must be kept under control.
He said that if Mr Curran made a donation of €200 to the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) then he would strike out the case.
He adjourned the case until February 17th to allow the donation to be made.
A young man accused by Gardai of trespassing at farm sheds in Co Donegal said he was merely at the premises for a romantic meeting with his girlfriend.
Curtis Parke, 22, and his then-girfriend were caught by the owner David Miller at his farm sheds outside the village of St Johnston.
The lock was broken off the door and it was open but nothing had been taken from inside the premises which contained old tools.
Mr Miller said Parke was having a cigarette beside the van and sheds when he approached them at around 5.30pm on September 30th, 2017.
He denied breaking into the shed but admitted looking inside the sheds out of curiosity.
Solicitor for the accused, Mr Frank Dorrian, said Parke, of Listillion, Letterkenny, was not planning to carry out a burglary at the sheds but was there for romantic reasons.
He said nothing was taken and did admit taking a glance into the sheds but denied doing anything to a broken lock.
Mr Parke told Letterkenny District Court that he had no intentions of stealing anything from the sheds.
He told the court “I had no house at the time and myself and my girlfriend went down there to bond for a while.”
Garda McConalogue said he did not believe the excuse given by the accused for being in the sheds.
“I belive that if he was being romantic with his girlfriend then he would have done so in the van and he didn’t have to open the shed,” he said.
His solicitor added that there was no evidence or admission that he intended to do anything and that curiosity does not create an offence.
Passing judgement, Judge Paul Kelly said that if the accused did have the intention of ‘bonding’ with his girlfriend then it would have been prudent to check the shed to see if anybody was there.
He dismissed the charge against the accused.
Actor and Fr Ted star Gerard McSorley has appeared in court again after trying to enter sheltered accommodation which he had been evicted from.
McSorley, 70, appeared at Letterkenny District Court where he was charged with threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour
The court heard that on November 11th last he arrived at Trinity Court sheltered accommodation in Newtowncunningham.
Mr McSorley had just been evicted from the premises some time earlier and had been told by staff that he was not welcome there again.
Staff at the centre said they would provide the actor with the money for a taxi to take him to his previous home in Gaoth Dobhair in West Donegal.
However, Garda Sgt Gerard Dalton told the court that Mr McSorley said that under no circumstances would he be returning to Gaoth Dobhair.
Gardai were called and Mr McSorley began to raise his voice and was arrested and brought to Letterkenny Garda station.
Mr McSorley’s solicitor, Mr Kieran O’Gorman said that his client was very apologetic for what had happened.
Judge Paul Kelly asked Mr O’Gorman if the actor had now found accommodation and was told he has.
Judge Kelly added “Tensons were a bit high on the night so I will apply the Probation Act.”
Although originally from Omagh, McSorley has lived in Co Donegal for many years.
He has starred in a number of films including Veronica Guerin, Braveheart, Michael Collins, Angela’s Ashes and the infamous Fr Ted series where he played Fr Todd Unctious.
A man has appeared in court charged with sexually assaulting his daughter’s partner at their child’s christening after-party.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Letterkenny District Court charged with the offence.
The court was told that a number of people had been at the child’s christening and had gone back to a house party.
At 4.30am the victim’s father went downstairs in the house to check to see if everyone was okay.
However, when he looked through some glass doors into a sitting room area, he saw a man touching another man who was asleep on a sofa.
The man realised that it was his son’s girlfriend’s father and that he was rubbing his son’s penis through his trousers.
Garda Eoin Watters told the court that the man was shocked and shouted at the attacker to stop.
The man stopped and he apologised and fled through the back door of the house.
The following day the family decided that they would tell the couple what had happened.
The victim told his family that it was only then that he realised that his trousers were partially opened and that his belt was unbuckled.
On July 30th, 2018, the accused was arrested, taken to his nearest Garda station in Co Donegal and made partial admissions to the incident.
His solicitor, Mr Kieran O’Gorman, said there was a lot of drink taken at the party.
He said his client was in his 60s and had no previous convictions.
He added that the incident has affected himself and his family and the relationship between them.
“I’m sure it has,” replied Judge Paul Kelly.
He adjourned the case until April 6th for a probation and community service report.
However, he added “I’m not sure if restorative justice is an option here.”
A man who called two gardai “British bastards” and threatened to shoot them has been fined €250 for dangerous driving and banned for two years.
Myles Gillespie, Cois Cladaigh appeared at Dungloe District Court.
When asked why he called gardai such names, the defendant, he claimed it was the gardai who had made the alleged nationality remark to himself.
Gillespie made the remarks in the back of a garda squad car that was bringing him to Milford Garda Station.
He had just been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving, the court heard.
The defendant originally faced four charges of dangerous driving in Bunbeg on April 26 last year but was convicted on only one of them by Judge Paul Kelly.
A further charge of refusing to give a breath sample in Milford Garda station on the same date was dismissed after legal argument over the manner of the defendant’s arrest from the defendant’s solicitor Ms Jacqui Sharkey.
A charge of failing to produce insurance was taken into consideration and a charge of having no insurance was struck out.
Garda Eamon McGinley told the court he saw the defendant in his vehicle outside a local diner at Magheraclogher, Bunbeg at 4am on April 26.
The defendant took off in his white Ford Escort van and drove towards Bunbeg.
He crossed the white line to the opposite side of the carriageway on four occasions, the court heard.
The defendant took a sharp left at Bunbeg Crossroads with no indicators.
Garda McGinley believed the driving to be dangerous and put on the blue lights.
The defendant failed to stop and drove about 400 metres into a private dwelling at Cois Cladaigh.
Garda McGinley got out of the patrol car, opened the door of the defendant’s vehicle and asked for his licence and he was accompanied by Garda Patrick Kelly.
Myles Gillespie told the gardai “You are on private property and you will do nothing to me.”
Garda McGinley said he knew the man as Myles Gillespie and while speaking to him, he got a strong smell of drink, the defendant’s eyes were bloodshot and glazed and the garda formed an opinion and arrest the defendant on suspicion of drunk driving at 4.15 am.
The defendant got so aggressive that he had to be handcuffed in the patrol car for his own safety and the safety of the officers, the court heard.
He was verbally abusive to the gardai en route to Milford Garda Station, and arrived at 5.22 am.
The defendant refused to give a breath sample at 6.54 am and he was brought back to his home in Cois Cladaigh and asked to produce his insurance and licence.
The defendant said the documents were in the UK and he would need time to produce the documents.
Garda McGinley said on checking the details with the PSNI, the defendant was not insured to drive the vehicle and it was not registered in his name. The vehicle was then seized.
Defence solicitor Jacqui Sharkey said her client would say the gardai had driven off and then parked outside the Seaview Hotel.
When the solicitor asked why the garda wanted to check on the defendant initially, the latter said it was 4 am in the morning.
The garda said he and his colleague then went on the curtilage of the defendant’s property to investigate the dangerous driving that had taken place.
The court heard the defendant would deny that he crossed any line or that he would make the alleged profane remark about “Irish Guards.”
Garda Jonathan Sweeney, who was the member in charge at Milford Garda Station, told the court the defendant refused to sign the custody record when he was charged.
The defendant was released from custody at 7.04 am but admitted to gardai that he had been drinking three hours previously, the court heard.
The defendant denied this assertion.
The defendant, who had been placed in a cell, banged the door and shouted abuse at 6.55 am just before his release, the court heard.
Garda Colin Talbot told the court that he asked Myles Gillespie for two breath samples at 5.43 am for the evidenzer, and asked him if he had any medical reason for not complying.
The defendant replied “I am not being awkward I know my rights.
“I am not blowing into that machine and I was not driving on a public road when I was stopped.
“If I do admit it, I am a clown and I am not a clown and I was pulled in on my territory.”
The defendant added that the gardai had no search warrant.
Ms Sharkey said the defendant did not remember if the garda had asked him if he had a medical reason stopping him from giving the breath samples.
Ms Sharkey then raised legal submissions about the validity of the arrest of the defendant which were accepted as a “narrow point” by Judge Paul Kelly and the refusal charge was dismissed.
But the judge added that the defendant still had a case to answer on the dangerous driving and related charges.
Ms Sharkey said her client had a driver’s licence in court
Myles Gillespie told the court he was sitting in his vehicle making a phone call and was not eating a takeaway as previously suggested as there were no such places open at that time of the morning.
He denied pulling off first.
The court heard he had a bad experience with gardai on a previous occasion.
The defendant denied that he had crossed any white line and there were no windows in the back of his van so he could not see any blue flashing lights behind him.
He wondered if he was driving so dangerously then why did it take the gardai so long to stop him.
Inspector Seamus McGonigle put it to the defendant that he had admitted that he had been drinking and this was rejected by the defendant.
When the defendant was asked why he called the gardai “British bastards”, he said it was the gardai who had verbally abused him.
The defendant denied that he had driven for 400 metres and had refused to stop for the officers.
The Inspector asked the defendant if all of the gardai were incorrect in their evidence.
Judge Paul Kelly said from the defendant’s comments on the night it was clear the defendant had a “particular view of the gardai” and that view was furthered on that night.
The judge said he was 100 per cent certain that the manner of the defendant’s driving was as described by the gardai.
The judge said there were four instances of dangerous driving, but he was going to convict the defendant on one charge.
The court heard the defendant had previous relevant convictions in 2012 and 2002.
Defence solicitor Jacqui Sharkey said some of them were 17 years old and the defendant had not come to any garda attention in many years.
The defendant looked after his mother who was almost blind, and the loss of his licence would be severe.
Leave to appeal to the circuit court was set in the defendant’s bond of E400.
A Judge has warned a small-time Co Donegal drug-dealer that his actions were helping to fuel serious crime such as that experienced in Drogheda and Dublin in recent weeks.
Judge Paul Kelly made his comments at Letterkenny District Court when sentencing a Lifford man who pleaded guilty to the sale and supply of drugs.
Shane McNulty was a passenger in a car which was stopped by Gardai at Daly’s Service Station in Lifford on October 9th, 2017.
Gardai found a bag with cannabis in the car and McNulty admitted it was his.
A follow-up search of his home at Hollybush, Lifford uncovered almost €600 worth of cannabis in his bedroom.
Solicitor for the accused, Mr Frank Dorrian, said McNulty had an unfortunate set of circumstances and was trying to go straight.
He explained how the accused had been selling the drugs in order to fund a SafePass course but had lost two fingers in a car accident and could no longer do manual labour.
Before that, he had been involved in a number of other car accidents which had left him with a brain injury.
However, Judge Kelly said it was exactly this type of behaviour which was fuelling the drugs industry.
“His drug dealing may have been on the smaller end of the scale but they are all connected to substantial criminal networks.
“These are the exact people who have no problem to resorting to appalling violence. If you are buying a joint at a street corner or selling a few deals of cannabis then you are supporting that endevour.
“The shocking and sordid events in Dublin and Drogheda are the type of mess people get into when they get involved in the sale of drugs,” he warned.
He adjourned McNulty’s case until April 2nd next to allow for a Probation and Welfare Service report.
An inquest into the death of Donegal teenager Shane Patton is to take place next week.
Shane was just 18 when he was killed by a driver with almost 500 previous convictions in Drumkeen in July, 2012.
Eamon Lynch pleaded guilty to careless driving causing the death of the teenager who had just completed his Leaving Certificate.
Lynch, who was jailed for 18 months, admitted he was driving at 165km per hour when he ploughed into Shane.
The father-of-three was drunk and had no driving license, valid NCT, tax or insurance on his car when he struck the 18-year-old.
Lynch fled to Northern Ireland following the tragedy.
However, he was extradited under a European arrest warrant to face trial for Shane’s death to which he pleaded guilty.
The court heard how Lynch, who is originally from Derry, was driving his Toyota Celica with his partner just after midnight on 12 July when his car collided with Patton’s.
Eamonn Lynch appears in court. Pic by Northwest Newspix.
The entire crash was caught on the CCTV system of a local service station.
Garda forensic examiners estimated that Lynch was traveling at 165km per hour on the main Ballybofey to Letterkenny Road which has a 100 km per hour speed limit.
Shane, of Cloghroe, Drumkeen, emerged from a side road but Lynch was traveling so fast that he did not have time to take evasive action and smashed into the teenager.
The dead teenager’s mother Julie read a victim impact statement out to the court.
She revealed how Shane, the eldest of a family of three children, had just completed his
Leaving Certificate and has just been accepted onto a course to train as a mechanic.
Mrs Patton said that her entire family were heartbroken by the “happy, beautiful boy” who had been taken from them.
She said Shane’s brother and sister, Dina and Jason, did not have someone to help them with their homework and how she set the table for four people instead of five.
She told how his grandmother Mary had to watch Shane being buried on what should have been a celebration of her 70th birthday.
Letterkenny Circuit Court also heard how Shane, who has passed his driving test aged just 17, had only ever wanted to be a mechanic.
While in school he would tell teachers what was wrong with their cars.
Shane’s dad Martin, who was also in court, was trying his best to get on with his life for the rest of his family, Mrs Patton said.
“I thought I would have to teach Shane about the world but I now have to teach the world about Shane. I have to tell people that it is not okay to drink and drive because it destroys families,” she added.
And she added “There is no quick fix and no getting over it. There is no glue to fix all the broken hearts.”
Shane’s inquest takes place at Letterkenny Courthouse next Wednesday before coroner Dr Denis McCauley.
A child who fell off a stage at a wedding in a Co Donegal hotel has been awarded €35,000.
The boy, who was aged just four years, suffered the accident the Ballyliffin Lodge on September 9th, 2017.
The child appeared with his parents at Letterkenny Circuit Court where details of the accident were heard.
Barrister Peter Nolan told the court that the child fell off a stage during the wedding and suffered a laceration.
He was rushed to Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry where he was treated on the night.
Mr Nolan read the reports from two plastic surgeons which the child has been attending.
Both said that the scar, which is around the child’s eyebrow, is visible but is expected to heal well.
He said he was happy to recommend the compensation of €35,000 as well as €846 in special damages.
Judge John Aylmer said he was happy to recommend the sum for the child.
A woman in her 50s has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a number of children.
The woman, who cannot be named to protect the identities of the victims, appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court today.
The offences happened between 1986 and 1989 at various locations across Donegal.
The woman remained silent only to answer ‘guilty’ on three occasions when the charges of indecent assault were put to her.
Judge John Aylmer released the woman on bail until February 11th when the case will be mentioned again.
A man who had been told by a Judge he could spend his first Christmas with his family for fifteen years is now to spend it behind bars.
Stephen Darby was given his festive wish earlier this month when he pleaded with a Judge not to send him to jail.
The 45-year-old, who has 72 previous convictions, appeared at Letterkenny District Court charged with a number of serious offences including assaulting Gardai.
Darby was caught acting suspiciously at The Beeches housing estate in Ballybofey on September 29th last.
He was dressed in black and was trying to force his into one of the houses and fled when Gardai arrived but was caught jumping over a fence.
A vicious altercation saw Darby assault a number of Gardai.
At one stage he picked up a block and threatened to hit a Garda with it while he also told another Garda that he would kill him and burn down his house.
After being pepper-sprayed a number of times, he was eventually arrested.
Solicitor Mr Patsy Gallagher, said his client had been in care since he was aged 9 and was subject to horrors that no person should ever have to go through.
He ended up in Dublin and became part of a criminal gang which he then, rightly or wrongly, considered his family unit.
He ended up in prison for long stretches but in recent months he reconnected with his mother.
Darby claimed that on the night in question he had taken medication and also drank lots of vodka and was trying to find his mother’s house.
Judge Paul Kelly sentenced Darby on a number of charges including the assault on Gardai as well as criminal damage to a total of four months but backdated the sentence to when Darby went into custody.
The accused man pleaded with Judge Kelly to suspend the last month of the sentence as he had not spent Christmas with his real family for 15 years.
Judge Kelly asked him whose fault that was and Darby replied that it was his own.
The Judge agreed to suspend all the sentence under the condition that Darby not be convicted of any public order offences for the next 12 months.
However, Darby was one of two men caught allegedly breaking into a house in Ballybofey in the early hours of Thursday morning last.
He appeared at a special sitting of Letterkenny District Court where he was charged with aggravated burglary and was remanded in custody by Judge Paul Kelly to appear by videolink for a bail hearing on December 27th at the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin.
A man from Cork has appeared in court charged in connection with the death of a man in a road traffic collision in Letterkenny.
Henry Kiely appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court where he pleaded guilty to causing the death by dangerous driving of 55-year-old Francis Brown at Listillion on September 6th, 2018.
Other charges against Kiely of Old Mill Road, Cork, were taken into consideration.
Kiely’s barrister said his client was a young man who had never been in such serious trouble as this before.
He said he has prospects in front of him and that he would benefit from a probation report before sentencing.
Judge John Aylmer agree and adjourned the case until the April sittings of the court.
A driver was speeding at 165kph when he crashed into the side of a car being driven by 18-year-old motorist who died instantly, an inquest has heard.
Shane Patton suffered catastrophic brain injuries when he was struck by a car being driven by Eamon Lynch in Drumkeen in July 2012.
A subsequent court case heard how Lynch, of Glentane Manor, Letterkenny, had almost 500 previous criminal convictions before the crash.
The late Mr Patton’s parents, Julie and Martin Patton, of Drumkeen, attended the inquest at Letterkenny Courthouse today where they heard about the last moments of their son’s life.
The court heard how Shane had emerged from a side road onto the N13 at Drumkeen just before midnight on July 11th.
As he crossed the road in his Volkswagon Bora car, he was struck from the side by Lynch in his 1995 Toyota Celica car.
Shane’s car was sent 70 yards down the road following the impact and he was killed instantly.
Eamonn Lynch appears in court. Pic by Northwest Newspix.
Lynch, who is originally from Derry, was driving from the direction of Ballybofey towards Letterkenny and was taken to Letterkenny University Hospital.
A blood sample taken by Gardai in the hospital showed that Lynch had been drinking while driving and had a blood alcohol level of 44 microgrammes per 100 millitres of blood.
Eye-witness John McGetigan, who was parked up at the crossroads when the accident happened.
He described how the Toyota Celica car caught fire and how he and others tried frantically to help.
Retired Garda Sgt John McFadden told how he had carried out a serious of ‘skid’ tests on the Toyota Celica car.
He estimated that the car was traveling at an average speed of 165kph (102 mph) on the road governed by a speed limit of 100kph when the impact occurred.
He added that the seat belt of both drivers were in the resting position which indicated they were not in use at the time fo the crash.
Pathologist Katrina Dillon said she examined the late Mr Patton and he had a number of fractures, abrasions as well as a severe brain injury.
She added that Shane, of Cloghroe, Drumkeen would have lost consciousness and died almost immediately as a result fo the crash.
She said that there were no drugs or alcohol in Shane’s system and that in her opinion death was due to multiple injuries caused as a result of a road traffic accident.
Coroner Dr Denis McCauley apologised to the Patton family for the delay in holding the inquest.
Barrister Patricia McCallum, on behalf of the Patton family, said she would like the inquest to reflect that the reason for the delay was because of criminal proceedings connected to the case which were finalised in 2017.
Dr McCauley added that there were also problems getting a draft deposition from Eamon Lynch in the case which delayed holding the inquest.
Garda Sgt Jim Collins added that there were attempts made to contact Lynch but that he was now across the border in Northern Ireland and they could not contact him.
Dr McCauley said he knows the Patton family personally and that Shane was a client of the practise he works in.
He said the speed of the car being driven by Lynch and also the fact that there was alcohol in his blood were factors but this was not a judgement.
He said that his findings were duty-bound by the Circuit Court decision of January 25th which found Lynch guilty of careless driving causing death and drink driving.
The Patton family declined to make a comment after the inquest.
A carer who stole €20,000 from an elderly woman with terminal cancer and then burned the cash has been given a suspended prison sentence.
Marjorie Gallagher went through the home of dying Bridget McLaughlin on four occasions and stole €5,000 bundles of cash which she had hidden in tins because she did not trust banks.
The 56-year-old HSE carer was finally caught when Mrs McLaughlin’s family installed secret CCTV cameras in her home when they suspected money was going missing.
Gallagher, of Maghery, Dungloe, was witnessed taking the money and was later interviewed by Gardai when she admitted her crimes.
When approached by Gardai, she had €5,000 stuffed down her trousers but claimed that on the three previous occasions, she had simply burned the stolen money.
She appeared today (Wed) at Letterkenny Circuit Court where an outline of the case was given before Judge John Aylmer.
The court was told that Mrs Gallagher initially wrongly suspected her family of taking her life savings.
However, when the cameras were put in place the real culprit was caught.
Gallagher had been a carer for Mrs McLaughlin for many years and had been taking the cash even after the victim had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Just days before her death, 76-year-old Mrs McLaughlin wrote a harrowing victim impact statement in which she referred to Galagher as “evil.”
She wrote how her last days were left with her telling how she had been robbed by a woman she trusted in her home.
She wrote “It is not how I imagined I would spend my last precious time and to end my life on this earth feeling sad and betrayed and possibly even now while you are reading this I will have passed away.
“It’s in Gods hands but I want you to know of my disgust at Marjorie Gallagher and what she has done to our family. She has robbed us over and over again and lied to us over and over again. When I was so weak and so sick she went through my home and stole my life savings that Packie, my dear husband may he rest in peace and myself worked very hard for all our life.
“How despicable is this person, she turns my stomach and makes me sick.
“Marjorie was employed by the HSE to care for me but she is not a carer she is a professional thief and a liar and I can only imagine the damage she has done for over seventeen years “supposedly caring” for elderly and vulnerable Alzheimer’s patients.
“It frightens me to think of it and how evil, calculated and cunning she is and I worry she will just walk away free but I have great faith in God above and he will see justice for this crime against me and my family.
“In all my years dealing with people, I think she is the most cunning and devious person I have ever encountered. Thank God we have stopped her from hurting anybody else in her lifetime. I would not trust her with man, woman or child. Marjorie is cold and calculated and she knew exactly what she was doing for many years creeping about through my home like a rat until she found my money.
“Marjorie kept rooting through my home and personal items and robbed me over and over and it didn’t cause her a thought. I no longer feel safe in my own home and I don’t trust anyone anymore as a result of what Marjorie has done to me
“When I didn’t know who was stealing from me that was soul-destroying. I had to question my son, do you know how hard that was, I even feel sick thinking of it, God love him too he was so strong and said we will get this sorted even in the midst of the heartbreak.”
She revealed how the money which was stolen was due to be left to her children and grandchildren.
“I had left the money Marjorie stole from me in my will to my family to help them with their lives going into the future and to help my grandchildren through college but unfortunately Evelyn and the rest f my family will lose out now because of Marjorie.
“I want people to know how dangerous Marjorie Gallagher is as she groomed my family and me. She is a professional thief and I could write about the betrayal and hurt she has done forever but the basic facts are I worked hard all my life and earned and saved my money, not easy at times, but I earned it honestly.
“Marjorie Gallagher preyed on me while I was ill and weak, I hope she gets what’s due to her. As I said maybe I have passed on since I wrote this but I will meet my maker knowing I have led a good life, an honest life surrounded by a loving family.”
Members of Mrs McLaughlin’s family including some of her grandchildren cried as her victim impact statement was read out in court.
The court was told that the family of Ms Gallagher had come together and had gathered €20,000 which they wanted to offer the estate of the late Mrs McLaughlin.
Barrister for Gallagher, Mr Shane Costelloe, said his client had serious mental health issues from previous incidents in her life.
She was brought up with a violent father and there was also another serious incident in her teenage years which he could not go into but which were in her medical reports.
She showed no trappings of wealth and the fact that she burned the money she stole was a reflection of these mental health issues.
Passing sentence, Judge John Aylmer said that the theft of €20,000 from an ill lady in the care of the accused must be viewed as a very serious offence.
He said such offences merited a prison sentence of five years on each charge.
However, because of Mrs Galagher’s mental health issues and the fact that she admitted her crimes, had shown remorse and had no previous convictions then he would reduce this to three and half years.
However, he added that in exceptional circumstances, the totality of any prison sentence can be suspended and this is what he was proposing to do on counts two, three and four against Ms Gallagher.
He ordered her to remain under the care of the Probation Services for the next 18 months.
On count one he sentenced her to carry out 240 hours community service.
A child who fell off a stage at a wedding in a Co Donegal hotel has been awarded €35,000.
The boy, who was aged just four years, suffered the accident the Strand Hotel in Ballyliffin on September 9th, 2017.
The child appeared with his parents at Letterkenny Circuit Court where details of the accident were heard.
Barrister Peter Nolan told the court that the child fell off a stage during the wedding and suffered a laceration.
He was rushed to Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry where he was treated on the night.
Mr Nolan read the reports from two plastic surgeons which the child has been attending.
Both said that the scar, which is around the child’s eyebrow, is visible but is expected to heal well.
He said he was happy to recommend the compensation of €35,000 as well as €846 in special damages.
Judge John Aylmer said he was happy to recommend the sum for the child.
A man allegedly sexually assaulted a young woman after trying to break-up a fight outside a takeaway in Co Donegal.
The man, who is charged with sexual assault, has appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court.
The accused, who cannot be named at this stage of the trial, denies the allegations.
The woman said she had been out with friends at the Pulse Nightclub in July 2018 after being in both the Cavern and then Sister Sara’s bars.
She left the Pulse and visited a takeaway for some food but got into an altercation with another woman.
The court heard the women began physically fighting and a man came over to them claiming he was trying to break up the argument.
However, the woman claims that the man inserted his finger into her vagina while she was lying on the ground.
The woman, who said she was wearing a short jump-suit, said she had not been drinking excessively.
Barrister for the accused, Mr Shane Costello, asked the woman if she had taken any other substances on the night and she denied she had.
However, Mr Costello said that a state analysis taken from the woman during the course of her examination showed traces of a substance identified as cocaine.
The woman categorically denied that she had taken cocaine.
Mr Costello also suggested that red marks found on the woman’s vagina could have been as a result of the fight with the other woman.
The trial continues today.
A taxi-driver who mistakenly drove over a man who was lying in the middle of a road became an alcoholic because of the stress of the incident.
Fergus Herron, aged 62, appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court in Co Donegal where he had originally been charged with dangerous driving causing the death of Kieran Doherty.
Mr Doherty had been lying in the middle of the road on the outskirts of the town of Stranorlar at 2.40am on April 5th, 2015 after being drinking that evening.
Mr Herron had been on his last taxi-run with two passengers when the tragedy occurred close to the Ulster Tyre Company premises on the main Stranorlar to Letterkenny Road.
The court heard that the driver did notice something black on the road 30 yards away but it was dark and foggy and it was not until he drove over the object that he realised it was a person.
Although originally charged with dangerous driving causing death, the court had accepted a lesser plea of careless driving causing death.
Barrister for Herron, Mr Shane Costello, said his client’s life had changed drastically since the accident and since Mr Doherty’s death.
His client had served his country in the Irish army for 23 years during which he completed one tour of Lebanon.
After his career in the army, he had been honestly employed as a taxi-driver and in other jobs to support his wife and four children.
However, since the accident, he had turned to drink and has been forced to receive treatment because of his dependency on alcohol.
Although only 62 years of age, Mr Costello suggested that the accused looked 15 years older than that because of the stress the accident and court case had brought to him in the past five years.
The court heard how the family of Mr Herron, some of whom were in court, bore no ill feeling towards Mr Herron for what had happened.
Judge John Aylmer said this was an unusual case and was a terrible tragedy for both Mr Doherty and for Mr Herron.
He said “This tragedy has weighed very heavily on him and he took to drink and has had a devastating effect on him and he has displayed considerable victim empathy.”
He initially sought to apply the Probation Act but is confined by the law to apply a fine and apply penalty points.
He fined Mr Herron €300 and applied five penalty points to his license.
