The Radisson Blu Hotel in Letterkenny.

Two brothers checked themselves and their wives into a local hotel and ran up a bill of almost €700 using a false credit card.

Gerard and Martin Lawrence ordered food and drink to their rooms at the Radisson Hotel in Letterkenny.

However, management became suspicious and decided to process their credit card which was declined.

When hotel staff were not looking, the men and their wives, both originally from Athboy in Co Meath, fled the hotel.

Their rooms were checked but all of their personal belongings had gone.

Gardai were alerted and a description of the men was taken from CCTV.

Gardai then located the accused men and their wives at Lower Main Street in the town.

They initially denied they had stayed at the Radisson but then admitted the charges and were arrested.

The men appeared at Letterkenny District Court today charged with obtaining goods and services without paying on August 8th last year.

Solicitor Kieran O’Gorman told the court that this was a sill escapade undertaken when there was certain amount of drink taken.

A total bill of €679 including accommodation, food and drink had been run up at the hotel.

Solicitor O’Gorman said the men were up visiting friends when the incident happened and that the hotel had been compensated in full.

Both men, Gerard Lawrence, aged 25, from Bridge Street, Athboy and his brother Martin, 21, of Westside Apartments, Letterkenny, were were fined €200 by Judge Paul Kelly and given six months to pay.

Other charges were taken into consideration.

Michael Jude McGarvey walks free from court

A MAN who punched his former brother-in-law in a pub toilet has walked free from court after a judge decided not to impose a three month prison sentence.

Michael Jude McGarvey, who is 37 and from Glassagh, Gaoth Dobhair, was convicted of assault at Dungloe District Court and jailed but he had appealed the case to the Circuit Court.

Victim Stephen Ferry, who is 28, stood by his version of events on a night out at Teach Jack’s on September 2, 2012. McGarvey’s marriage to Ferry’s sister had ended two years earlier.

Mr Ferry said he had gone out to watch Manchester United play on TV that day.

He claimed that McGarvey had told him there “would be no more hassle” if he dropped allegations relating to an assault six months earlier at a takeaway in Derrybeg.

He claimed that McGarvey had shouldered him in the bar shortly afterwards.

“He started calling me a ‘wanker’ and slagging family members,” Mr Ferry told Judge John O’Hagan.

Around 9pm he said he went to the toilet and was standing at a urinal when McGarvey came in, punched him in the back of the head and he hit his head, busting his eye. Blood was pouring from the wound and as he had tried to escape out of the toilets McGarvey had ripped off his t-shirt.

Mr Ferry’s cousin Eimear McFadden said she saw him coming out of the toilets with blood pouring from a wound above his eye. She said she saw McGarvey emerge from the toilets smiling.

A short time later in the smoking area outside she said McGarvey had told her – in Irish – that “someone had to put manners on him (Mr Ferry).”

McGarvey gave a completely different version of events. He claimed Mr Ferry had been winding him up in the bar and said the injury suffered by Mr Ferry in the toilets was self-inflicted.

He claimed he was at the urinal when Mr Ferry had come out of one of the cubicles and attempted to throw a punch at him. He said he defended himself and Mr Ferry had fallen onto the floor, hitting his head and causing the cut.

He said Mr Ferry’s t-shirt “must have got caught in his hand” when he was defending himself.

Mr Ferry said there was a witness in the toilets. Sgt Rory Harrison told the court that five different witnesses in Teach Jack’s that evening had declined to give statements to gardai.

Retired inspector John O’Toole, who went to the scene, was asked by Judge John O’Hagan if Mr Ferry was “as drunk as a skunk” on the night of the incident. The garda said that he wasn’t.

The court there was “no hassle any more” between the parties.

Ferry had been cleared of assault in the District Court.

Judge O’Hagan said he was satisfied the State had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that McGarvey was guilty of assault causing harm.

He said McGarvey was “less than consistent with a considerable number of additions to explain what went on” when giving his evidence.

He said he was also satisfied with the evidence of Eimear McFadden that she did see McGarvey smiling “as if he had achieved something” and that McGarvey did say that “somebody needed to put manners on” Mr Ferry.

However the judge said the incident happened four years ago.

“The storm has settled and there would not appear to be same angst as there was in the past,” said Judge O’Hagan.

Turning to Mr Ferry he said: “In other words Mr Ferry, I believe you.”

However “under the circumstances” he set aside the three month prison sentence, applied to the Probation Act adding the parties should “stay away from one another in the future”.

A WOMAN is in a critical condition after a road traffic accident in the county today.

The Letterkenny to Lifford Road has been closed around 1km on the Letterkenny side of Rossgeir following the incident.

A number of vehicles were involved in the crash which gardai believe was caused by an oil spill.

Ambulance and fire crews are still at the scene.

A number of vehicles have left the road. Garda forensic collision investigators are due at the scene shortly.

Motorists have reported a number of oil spills in the county this morning.

Gardai are appealing for all road users to report oil spills today so that motorists can be warned in advance.

Letterkenny Circuit Court

A FARMER whose unlit trailer suffered a puncture at the side of the road has gone on trial before a jury accused of causing death by dangerous driving.

Adrian McCool, from Old Armiran, Stranorlar, pleaded not guilty when he appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court.

He is accused of causing the death of 53-year-old John O’Donnell in a road traffic collision in the townland of Cappry, outside Ballybofey on November 13^th, 2013.

Mr McCool pleaded guilty to three road traffic offences relating to the same incident including failing to have lights on a sheep trailer on the night of the crash.

The court heard how Mr McCool had pulled over on the road around 7.35pm that night after a tyre on the trailer suffered a puncture.

He had been calling the trailer’s owner to ask about a spare wheel when the incident happened.

Patricia McLaughlin for the DPP told the jury before Judge John O’Hagan that Mr O’Donnell was driving on the same side of the road where Mr McCool had parked his vehicle and trailer.

The state would argue that Mr O’Donnell couldn’t see the trailer because it had no lights on it, was forced to take evasive action and crashed into an oncoming jeep being driven by another local farmer Terry Temple.

Mr O’Donnell died at the scene, Mr Temple was injured and Mr O’Donnell’s nephew Dylan McGlynn was also hurt.

Mr McGlynn, now 18 sobbed as he told the court about what happened on the night of the crash. A member of court staff gave him a tissue as he tried to recall the evening of the crash.

The teenager said it was a dark winter’s night. There had been thunder and ligtning earlier and he and his uncle John were on their way to Mr O’Donnell’s native Castlederg to feed cattle when the incident happened.

“I saw a jeep coming in the other direction. We didn’t see the trailer until the last minute,” he said.

“I remember the wing mirror coming off and there was a bang.”

He was asked what his uncle had done.

“He put his arm across in front of me,” said Mr McGlynn.

When the van came to a halt, he said he tried to speak to his uncle but didn’t get a response.

He said Mr McCool came over to the van and told him to go and get help. The teenager said neither he nor Mr O’Donnell were wearing seatbelts.

The driver of the oncoming jeep, farmer Terry Temple, said Mr O’Donnell’s VW Caddy had careered into his driver’s door.

He said he had tried to avoid Mr O’Donnell’s van but couldn’t.

Mr Temple said Mr O’Donnell and Mr McCool were friends who were known to each other and would have worked with each other in the past.

He told defence barrister Damian Crawford that Mr McCool had gone to help Mr O’Donnell, performing CPR until the ambulance came.

Earlier Garda Damian Mulkearns described the appalling weather conditions on the night of the crash.

He said he had been on patrol between Killea and Bridgend when he got a call to attend the scene.

Garda Mulkearns said there was heavy rain, so much so that he had turned off the patrol car’s blue emergency lights as the reflection was making driving difficult.

The trial continues today.

Drink drive bans in the North can’t be applied here

A DONEGAL man banned from driving for two years for drink-driving has been behind the wheel throughout – because of another loophole in the law.

Martin Holmes, from Sandy Row in Castlefinn, sat in court in Letterkenny as his solicitor argued that a drink-drive ban in the North couldn’t be extended to the Republic because of the way the Road Safety Authority had made the application.

Holmes was banned from driving for two years on March 26, 2013 after pleading guilty at Omagh Magistrates Court to drinking and driving.

However he launched a bid at the District Court in Letterkenny to prevent the ban being imposed south of the Border.

The District Court ruled against him last year, but he appealed it to the Circuit Court this week and won his case on a technicality.

Solicitor Frank Dorrian had argued that the Road Safety Authority, which implements cross-Border bans, had acted outside the law because they had issued a court summons.

He said the Courts No 3 Act (1986) was introduced to enable court clerks to issue a summons only in respect of a criminal offence alleged in this State.

“The court clerk in this case was exercising jurisdiction which cannot apply to this situation,” said Mr Dorrian.

Road Safety Authority solicitor Jacqueline Maloney argued the application to apply the ban in the Republic is a process, and not criminal proceedings. She said the summons had to be issued to notify Holmes.

But Judge John O’Hagan agreed with Mr Dorrian.

He said the RSA was using the wrong method to try to apply the ban in the Republic and he agreed with Mr Dorrian that a summons could not be used.

The legal case could now mean more motorists who live here in Donegal but who were banned from driving in the North and Britain for drinking and driving can also appeal.

Cllr Frank McBrearty

COUNTY Councillor Frank McBrearty Jnr has confirmed tonight that he has asked a special commission to investigate whether or not phone calls between him and his lawyers were illegally recorded by gardaí.

Mr McBrearty was given a €1.5m settlement from the State after being wrongly considered a murder suspect in the death of cattle dealer Richie Barron.

His legal team has told the Fennelly Commission that phone conversations with his lawyers were recorded by gardaí at the time.

In a letter to the commission, it is also alleged phone calls made by Mr McBrearty’s father, Frank Snr, and his cousin Mark McConnell to their lawyers were also recorded at Letterkenny Garda Station.

The Fennelly Commission was set up two years ago to investigate revelations that non-999 phone calls had been routinely recorded in certain garda stations over a 30-year period.

The commission has asked Cllr McBrearty to make a formal complaint.

The Morris Tribunal into garda corruption in Donegal was told of the alleged recording of phone calls between prisoners and their solicitors but investigating those claims were outside the remit of that inquiry.

“I am now hopeful that this will be fully investigated by the Fennelly Commission,” said Mr McBrearty tonight.

The Morris Tribunal found that gardaí had attempted to frame Cllr McBrearty and Mr McConnell for the murder of Mr Barron in October 1996.

Mr Barron was not murdered. He may have been the victim of a hit and run incident.

The case looks set to be re-opened with Mr Justice Niall Fennelly set to investigate if the McBrearty phone calls were made to solicitors were recorded.

Adrian McCool is accused of causing death by dangerous driving. Pic by North-West News-pix.

A FARMER who was forced to pull over after the sheep trailer he was towing suffered a puncture – has appeared before a jury at Letterkenny Circuit Court where he is accused of causing death by dangerous driving.

Adrian McCool pleaded not guilty to causing the death of 53-year-old John O’Donnell who died in road traffic collision in the townland of Cappry, outside Ballybofey on November 13^th, 2013.

At the trial yesterday, Garda Elaine Gordon, who was one of the first Gardaí on the scene – gave evidence in relation to the fatal collision.

She told the court, “I was on traffic control duty between Bridgend and Killea, when I received word that there had been a road traffic accident.

“My colleague Garda Mulkearns and I made our way to the scene of the accident, but the weather was dreadful.

“There was very, very heavy rain and visibility was very poor and Garda Mulkearns had his wipers on full.”

The court heard that one of the first people Garda Gordon spoke to was Mr Terry Temple, who was the driver of the Toyota Land-Cruiser that Mr O’Donnell collided with.

Garda Gordon said she carried out a breath test on Mr Temple and that he was fully compliant with her.

She confirmed that Mr Temple passed the breath test.

Garda Gordon then told the court, “I then spoke to Mr Adrian McCool and asked him for his details.

“I then also carried out a breath test on him, and he also passed, he was also fully compliant with me.

“Mr McCool then said, ‘I was pulling in when I got a puncture, I was not fully in when I heard a loud bang. ‘It’s my cousin’s trailer and I don’t know if the lights are working on it.”

The trial continues this morning.

A MAN who suffered an appalling childhood and went on to stab a friend nine times in a frenzied attack using a 10 inch kitchen knife has been given a suspended prison sentence after a judge heard how he was trying to rebuild his life.

Daniel ‘Skippy’ McLaughlin, from Glentogher outside Carndonagh, was battered and abused by his drunken mother.

One one occasion he was beaten when he tried to feed a brother who was deliberately starved by their mother. The same sibling had superglue put on a wound after being beaten by her.

Sentencing in the knife attack was adjourned from last year to allow social workers and psychiatrists to assess McLaughlin.

Garda Declan Lambe told Judge John O’Hagan how he was called to reports of a disturbance at Miller’s Way in Carndonagh on September 30th, 2011. Mr McLaughlin’s friend Andrew Drury had earlier made a 999 call.

Garda Lambe entered the house and found Mr Drury sitting on the stairs, directing him to the kitchen.

He said Mr McLaughlin was in an agitated state and covered in blood and demanding to know if there was a search warrant.

The garda said he entered the kitchen and saw a large bread knife covered in blood. He looked down and saw Brian McLaughlin Logue lying on the floor covered in blood. The stab victim was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

When interviewed, Daniel McLaughlin said he didn’t remember what had happened. “I must have flipped, I went clean mental,” he told gardaí.

He remembered a fight on the street outside but not the stabbing. “Why that happened I don’t know; I went bananas, I went nuts,” he said.

Mr McLaughlin’s brother Enda made international headlines two years ago when he stabbed three people in Germany before being struck and killed while crossing a motorway.

Reading from expert reports, Peter Nolan, barrister for Daniel McLaughlin said the McLaughlin children had been subjected to “physical abuse and torture by their mother when they were young”.

Their father Patrick, who was away working in Dublin most of the time, had not been aware of the situation at home, said the social worker.

Elizabeth McLaughlin, who died in a house fire in 2010, would pick on another sibling Jonathan.

“She once used glue to stop bleeding from a wound. She deliberately didn’t feed him; she starved him. And she punished Daniel when he tried to feed his brother.”

Since last year, said Mr Nolan, Daniel McLaughlin had just one relapse with drink and he was arrested for trespass.

However he had not been in trouble since. He praised a neighbour who had stepped in to try to raise the McLaughlin children when they were abandoned by their mother.

In a victim impact statement Brian McLaughlin Logue said his life had been changed by the attack by his friend.

He said he suffered traumatic physical and mental health issues. He was no longer able to straighten his arm after bones were chipped in the attack.

“A part of me died that night,” said the victim.

“I had done nothing wrong apart from being a friend. I don’t feel I can trust anyone any more. I have constant nightmares, constantly haking when I am around people. I have pains in my lung from the injuries and I can no longer part-take in what I used to love, reading and art. I suffered damage to my hand where tendons were slashed.

“Nine times I was stabbed. My muscles are now like jelly.”

Judge John O’Hagan said the case was “extremely sad”.

He said the incident had been horrific for the victim.

However there were positive reports on Daniel McLaughlin from experts who were satisfied that he is aiming for sobriety. It was clear, said the judge, that more can be achieved by continuing to treat him in the community but he needed to use a deterrent to ensure this could happen.

He noted that Daniel now had a girlfriend and would soon become a father himself.

“Perhaps that too will settle him down,” said the judge.

“I hope the experience of fatherhood is more rewarding than the experiences he has had in his own life in the past.”

Judge O’Hagan said he wanted to use a deterrent to make sure Daniel McLaughlin remained under the eye of the courts and care workers.

He jailed McLaughlin for three years, and suspended the sentence for three years on a number of conditions.

These included that McLaughlin should not to be convicted of any offences contrary non-fatal offences against the person act, that he complete a 12-month supervision order from the probation service, submit to and comply with ongoing care and treatment with the HSE mental health services and abstain from all alcohol and illicit substances.

Adrian McCool was cleared by the jury. Pic by North-West News-pix.

A ROADS engineer with Donegal County Council has been found not guilty of dangerous driving causing death.

Adrian McCool, from Old Armiran, Stranorlar, had pleaded not guilty to the charge before a jury at Letterkenny Circuit Court.

After a three-day trial, a jury of 11 people, took less than 50 minutes to reach their verdict.

Builder and farmer John O’Donnell, 53, died in the collision at Cappry, Ballybofey on November 13^th, 2013.

Mr McCool had pleaded guilty to three road traffic offences relating to the same incident including failing to have lights on a sheep trailer on the night of the crash and dangerous parking.

However he had denied causing death by dangerous driving.

The court heard how Mr McCool had pulled over on the road around 7.35pm that night after a tyre on the trailer suffered a puncture.

He had been calling the trailer’s owner to ask about a spare wheel when the incident happened.

The jury heard that Mr O’Donnell was driving on the same side of the road where Mr McCool had parked his vehicle and trailer.

The state had argued that Mr O’Donnell couldn’t see the trailer because it had no lights on it, he was forced to take evasive action and he then crashed into an oncoming jeep being driven by another local farmer Terry Temple.

Mr O’Donnell died at the scene, Mr Temple was injured and Mr O’Donnell’s nephew Dylan McGlynn was also hurt.

During the trial Mr McGlynn, now 18 sobbed as he told the court about what happened on the night of the crash.

He and Mr O’Donnell had been travelling to Castlederg to feed cattle when the incident happened.

“I saw a jeep coming in the other direction. We didn’t see the trailer until the last minute,” he said.

“I remember the wing mirror coming off and there was a bang.”

He was asked what his uncle had done.

“He put his arm across in front of me,” said Mr McGlynn.

When the van came to a halt, he said he tried to speak to his uncle but didn’t get a response.

He said Mr McCool came over to the van and told him to go and get help.

The driver of the oncoming jeep, farmer Terry Temple, said Mr O’Donnell’s VW Caddy had careered into his driver’s door.

He said he had tried to avoid Mr O’Donnell’s van but couldn’t.

When the verdict was read out Mr McCool bowed his head whilst relatives wept beside him.

Judge O’Hagan said he would sentence Mr McCool on the other three charges in April.

A DONEGAL farmer originally fined €5,000 for driving his jeep with illegal green diesel has had has conviction overturned on appeal.

Jeffrey McKinney, from Knockbrack, Letterkenny, had admitted having the illegal fuel in his vehicle when it was checked by Customs officers in August 2013.

But he told Judge John O’Hagan at a District Court Appeal at the Circuit Court that he didn’t know there was agricultural diesel in his Nissan Jeep because his brother had accidentally put the wrong fuel in the vehicle the night before.

Mr McKinney, represented by specialist Dublin tax lawyer John McLaughlin, told how he had called his brother from the joint garda/revenue checkpoint to make sure he had filled his jeep with the correct diesel.

His brother Keith told the judge that he had never filled vehicles at the farm before.

He said he had taken a call from his brother the evening before asking him to fill the jeep with diesel as he had to go to the Raphoe Mart the next day.

He said there were two diesel tanks in the family farmyard, one with green diesel for the tractors and one with white diesel for road vehicles.

Keith McKinney said it had been his mistake in using the wrong diesel. He says he told Customs this in a letter a few days later.

Defence counsel Mr McLaughlin argued that Jeffrey McKinney hadn’t knowingly used the green diesel as set out in the legislation and he wasn’t reckless in using it. He said there was no criminal intent on behalf of his client.

Judge John O’Hagan said farmers should clearly mark the outside of their fuel tanks in their farmyards to prevent a repeat of this incident.

He said he accepted Keith McKinney’s evidence however and that there was no criminal intent on the part of his brother to knowingly use a vehicle fuelled by green diesel.

He overturned the conviction.

Letterkenny Court.

A man with 164 previous convictions has been jailed for one month after he threw a bottle through a family’s car leaving two little girls terrified.

Brendan Boyle, 50, initially waved at a man leaving the Applegreen Filling Station at Drumnahoe in Letterkenny just after 4pm on November 1st last.

However when the car had passed him by, he threw a bottle at the back windscreen of the car smashing it and leaving two young girls in a hysterical state.

The river of the car, a Mr Doherty, travelled to the nearby LIDL outlet where he came across Gardai and told them what had happened.

Boyle, formerly of Meadowbank, Letterkenny, was then identified at the filling station and was arrested by Gardai.

Boyle, who is now serving a sentence in prison for other offences, appeared at Letterkenny District Court this morning.

The accused man’s solicitor, Mr Kieran Dillon, said his client was suffered from both mental health issues and alcohol abuse.

Judge Paul Kelly said “I’m very familiar with Mr Boyle, unfortunately.”

The court heard that a total of €300 worth of damage had been caused to Mr Doherty’s car but thankfully no injuries had been caused to Mr Doherty, his wife or the couple’s two daughters.

Judge Kelly sentenced Boyle to one month in prison but backdated it to November 16th.

Judge Paul Kelly dismissed an assault charge against John McGlynn.

A farmer walked free from court after he was found not guilty of assaulting his elderly uncle in a row over land and sheep.

John McGlynn, 40, appeared at Letterkenny District Court charged with assaulting Charles McGlynn after it was claimed he was punched several times.

John McGlynn, from Curraghmone, Ballybofey had always protested his innocence and denied the single charge.

The court heard from both men at the centre of the dispute as well as from retired Garda Eugene Drum.

An altercation between the two men took place on October 15th, 2014 at Curraghmone, Ballybofey.

Charles McGlynn said he had driven past his nephew John’s house and had noticed there was up to 15 sheep on the road.

As he went towards a cottage which he owned close to his nephew’s home, Charles McGlynn came after him on a quad.

He then alleged that John McGlynn had accused him of opening gates and allowing his sheep out.

He then alleged that his nephew then reached through the open window of his Audi A4 car and struck him with at least four punches to the chest.

Mr McGlynn senior also alleged in a statement to Garda Eugene Drum that his nephew had pull his tie.

Charles McGlynn, who now lives in Dundalk, made a number of allegations including one that his nephew allowed his sheep into his cottage and that they had destroyed a new floor which he had put in it.

However, this was denied by John McGlynn who said that these sheep belonged to other men who took land in the area.

He said that the row went back a number of years and concerned land left to him by his father claiming his uncle had pressurised his father into selling him a cottage and other land.

He said that any time there was a family function and Mr McGlynn senior took drink, he always tried to rise him.

John McGlynn denied that he could not have been able to strike his uncle as the gap between the driver’s window was only a couple of inches.

He admitted in cross-examination by Garda Inspector Goretti Sheridan that he was enraged by his uncle but said he did not strike him.

Judge Paul Kelly said that he found it impossible to reconcile Mr Charles McGlynn’s evidence noting that he alleged he was struck several times, that it would have been difficult to strike someone through the car window and that he was also awaiting to have an MRI scan despite no claims that he was struck in the head.

He said he simply found that there were a number of inconsistencies in his evidence.

However, he said he did find the evidence given by the alleged attacker, John McGlynn, as being clear and coherent.

He then dismissed the charge of assault against John McGlynn said he did not believe any assault as described took place.

A Letterkenny man caused more than €3,300 damage to a Garda car after going on a drunken spree in a stolen car.

John Sweeney, 21, appeared by video-link at Letterkenny District Court yesterday facing a catalogue of charges.

They included dangerous driving, drink driving, theft, burglary and causing criminal damage.

All the alleged offences were read out to court by Garda Inspector Goretti Sheridan.

The court heard how Gardai were forced to pursue Sweeney through the streets of Letterkenny at 5.30am on October 14th last.

He reached speeds of more than 120kph and swerved the wrong way around roundabouts before he burst a tyre and travelled on bare rims.

He overtook an ambulance and travelled towards Lurgybrack with no lights on and rammed the Garda car on at least two occasions.

He was eventually stopped by Gardai  after he crashed into a ditch but refused to get out of the car and Gardai were rocked to use their pepper spray on him.

When Sweeney, with an address at Castlerea Prison, was eventually interviewed he claimed he had downed by vodka and valium tablets.

The court also heard how he had broken into the home of Patricia O’Donnell at College Road and took her handbag, phone and car.

He was also charged with smashing a window at Subway restaurant in Letterkenny on August 23rd last causing €840 worth of damage.

Judge Paul Kelly later addressed Sweeney and told he would prefer to sentence him when he appeared at Letterkenny District Court tomorrow.

A couple have been banned from Letterkenny after allegedly going on a robbery spree.

The couple stand accused of stealing a car in Bridgend and handling stolen designer glasses worth more than €1,000.

Amy Beattie, 21, with an address of The Simon Community, Bonds Hill, Derry, and Cavan Whyte, 24, of 63 Rossnagalliagh, Derry, both faced a number of charges when they were brought before Carndonagh District Court yesterday.

The duo were both charged with the alleged theft of a car at Bunnamayne, Bridgend on November 22, last, while Beattie also faced charges of handling stolen property including Elizabeth Arden Red Door perfume and a student ID card.

The pair, who did not speak throughout the brief hearing, were brought to Carn Court in handcuffs after they were arrested in Letterkenny on Monday night.

Beattie and Whyte were also charged with allegedly leaving Oasis Bar in Letterkenny without paying a bill of €80.50 and holding stolen goods, namely ten pairs of designer glasses worth €1,090 on February 15.

Whyte faces a separate charge of possession an adapted Stanley/flick knife, with intent to cause injury.

The pair were arrested around 9.10pm on Monday night at Letterkenny Bus Station.

Their defence solicitor Frank Dorrian indicated that his clients would be pleading guilty to all of the charges and applied for bail.

Inspector Denis Joyce said he wanted a number of conditions attached to the bail before releasing the pair, as they had previously not appeared in Buncrana Court to face charges relating to the car theft in Bridgend.

He ordered that Beattie and Whyte sign on every Monday and Friday at Buncrana Garda Station and that they stay out of Letterkenny, except for court appearances.

Judge Paul Kelly asked Mr. Dorrian why they had not appeared before him in Buncrana in January.

The Buncrana solicitor said Ms. Beattie’s home had burnt down and her children had been taken into care. He said she was ‘a very bad way’ and not in a position to attend court at that time.

Judge Kelly released both defendants on their own bail bonds of €100 under the conditions that Insp. Joyce outlined. They are due before Buncrana Court on March 10, next.

A man is facing a lengthy prison sentence after he admitted head butting his former girlfriend at a friend’s wedding.

Kevin Kavanagh head-butted and punched his former partner Andrea Killen, on March 15, 2015, at a wedding in the Villa Rose Hotel, Ballybofey.

Buncrana District Court heard how Kavanagh had committed the ‘ultimate cowardly act’, adding that it was ‘very difficult to see’ how the case could be dealt with other than by way of a custodial sentence.

Judge Paul Kelly described the incident as a ‘horrific assault’ that has left lasting damage.

Kavanagh, 39, had asked Ms. Killen to accompany him to the mutual friend’s wedding in the hope of ‘rekindling’ their relationship but Ms. Killen only wanted to remain as friends.

Garda Inspector David Murphy said things came to a head after Ms. Killen received a text message from a male friend.

“Mr. Kavanagh, who had been drinking heavily, began questioning her about the message but she would not engage,” said Insp. Murphy.

“Later in the night Ms. Killen was sitting talking to a friend when Kavanagh came up to her, head butted her in the face and punched her right eye. Mr. Kavanagh had to be pulled away and Ms. Killen’s mother then came down from Derry to take her home.”

The court heard that Ms. Killen suffered extensive facial injuries following the incident.

“She had significant bruising to her right eye and her forehead was bruised and swollen also,” added Insp. Murphy.

Speaking in court Ms. Killen said she lost her voice for two months after the attack in Ballybofey. She said she is still receiving treatment on her vocal cords in Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry.

The Derry woman said she received victim support counselling for three months and was also treated for a brain injury.

Addressing Ms. Killen in court, Mr. Kavanagh,  of 32 Cashel Hill Park, Derry, said he apologised for ‘any inconvenience’ he had caused in his former partner’s life. He described the assault as a ‘moment of madness’ and said that he had not drunk alcohol since.

He added: “I have let myself and my family down – I was brought up better than that. It was a moment of madness that I regret every day of my life.”

Kavanagh’s defence solicitor Ciaran MacLochlainn said his client was ‘genuine in his remorse’, adding that he ‘seriously regrets’ lashing out at her.

“Mr. Kavanagh asked Ms. Killen about the text message and he was rightly told that it was none of his business but jealously is like the jaundice of the soul. It was eating away at him over the course of the night and that, fuelled by the alcohol, resulted in things becoming heated. He just couldn’t accept that she had moved on.”

Mr. MacLochlainn said the Derry man was working as mechanical fitter and was able to pay any sum of compensation which the court decided upon.

Judge Paul Kelly said he would give Kavanagh a chance to come up with €5,000 in compensation for the ‘horrific assault’ he inflicted on Ms. Killen. He added that this was only a ‘gesture’ as her injuries would warrant further compensation, which she would be entitled to pursue in a civil court.

“He subjected Ms. Killen to the ultimate cowardly act and caused her very graphic injuries that she still suffers from today,” said Judge Kelly.

“It is very difficult to see how I can deal with this case any other way than by way of a custodial sentence.”

Judge Kelly referred to a report, which was complied by the Probation Service of Northern Ireland about the Derry man. He said the probation officer believed that Kavanagh ‘did not present a serious risk of harm’ to the public but believed that he had a ‘medium likelihood’ of reoffending. The detailed report also stated that Kavanagh showed ‘significant signs of remorse’ and that ‘alcohol was a factor’ in the assault.

Judge Kelly remanded Kavanagh on his own continuing bail until May 12 for sentencing and to give him time to raise the €5,000 in compensation.

The scene at the bank on Falcarragh moments after Watters smashed into it.

A man who crashed his car into the front of a bank causing more than €33,000 worth of damage before fleeing the scene has escaped a jail sentence.

Stephen Watters, 29, smashed into the front of the Bank of Ireland in Falcarragh on November 29th, 2014 at 5.20am after leaving some friends home.

Watters appeared at Falcarragh District Court today for sentence after completing a safe driving course.

Defence solicitor Patsy Gallagher told Judge Paul Kelly that the incident had not been “a ram raid situation” but that his client had fallen asleep at the wheel.

Mr Gallagher said his client head been leaving friends home when he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the window of the bank after which he panicked and left the scene.

The judge remarked that perhaps Watters had been “trying to make a lodgement”.

Garda Inspector Denis Joyce said that only for the early hour, it was fortunate that no-one who might have been using the ATM was injured but the court heard that damage was caused to the building.

Watters also faced a separate charge of dangerous driving on August 24th 2014 at Meenderrygamph in Gweedore after crashed into a bridge writing off his vehicle and causing substantial damage to a bridge wall.

Judge Kelly remarked that Watters had carried out “an extraordinary sequence of driving that indicated his absolute lunacy behind the wheel”.

Unemployed plasterer Watters, of Shroughan,Falcarragh, appeared in court again yesterday (WED) for sentence by Judge Kelly.

However, Inspector Joyce said that he had a note that the Bank of Ireland had still not been compensated for the €33,000 amount of damage caused during the spectacular crash.

However solicitor Mr Gallagher maintained that it had been paid by Mr Watters’ mother’s insurance company as he had ben driving her car at the time.

Judge Kelly said the issue before the court was not an insurance issue but one of dangerous driving.

He remarked “Your client has a pretty grim record including two previous convictions for no insurance and one for dangerous driving.

“He must have been going at some speed to mount the pavement, go through a bench and crash into bank.”

He sentenced Watters to 120 hours community service for dangerous driving for the incident in which he crashed into the  bank on November 29th, 2014 in lieu of six months in prison.

He ordered him to do an additional 80 hours community service for another charge of dangerous driving, which he reduced to careless driving, on August 24th last, in lieu of 3 months in prison.

Arlene Arkinson

POLICE in the North investigated a claim that child killer Robert Howard confessed to the murder of missing Tyrone schoolgirl Arlene Arkinson – and the confession was relayed on the streets of Letterkenny three years after her disappearance.

Arlene disappeared after going to a disco in Bundoran in 1994. She as just 15.

Howard was cleared by a jury of her murder after they weren’t told of his previous convictions for killing children. He died in prison last year.

Now an inquest is being held into Arlene’s death, even though her body has never been found.

But that inquest has heard that a man from Derry called police in 1997 to say he had information about Howard.

The subsequent statement recorded by detective constable Gareth Jenkins was outlined at Belfast Laganside court.

The man said he knew Howard and first met him at a “drying out centre” in Newry around 1987.

He went on to describe an encounter in 1997 in Letterkenny when he and his cousin got talking to someone while they drank alcohol on the street.

“When they were drinking out on the street they bumped into a man who had burns on his face and hands,” the statement taken by the detective recorded.

The man said he then claimed Howard had lived on a caravan site in Letterkenny and while he was there he had told him about a girl.

“Howard told him how he had throttled her and then strangled her before burying her,” said the statement.

Letterkenny District Court

A hairdresser led Gardai on a ten mile chase just days after she finished serving a four year driving ban for dangerous driving.

Natalie McGee tried to out-speed Gardai and drove down dirt roads across West Donegal on November 30th last.

The 22 year old only stopped when her car began to smoke and gradually came to a halt.

When Gardai finally caught up with Ms McGee, they discovered that she had no tax or insurance on the car or did not have a driver’s license.

Solicitor for Ms McGee, Mr Kieran Dillon said his client panicked when she saw Gardai and they activated their flashing lights and sirens.

He said she had a troubled background and was now a trainee hairdresser who was now trying to get on with her life.

However Judge Paul Kelly warned Mr Dillon that his client could go to jail as a result of her latest escapade saying “Her liberty is at risk here.”

Falcarragh District Court heard how McGee of Ballina, Falcarragh, has six previous convictions for dangerous driving and two for having no insurance.

Judge Kelly adjourned the case until May 18th and ordered a probation report.

A beauty therapist has been given 18 years to pay back more than €24,000 she defrauded in job seeker’s allowance from the Department of Social Protection.

Ms Myra Salhi appeared at Letterkenny District Court yesterday on a total of 30 charges – fifteen for forgery and another fifteen for theft.

The court was told that between May 20th, 2014 and August 26th, 2014, Ms Salhi defrauded the Department of a total of €2,744 after claiming €177.60 in job seekers allowance.

Garda Harvey Maughan, who is assigned to the Special Investigations Unit at the Department of Social Protection, outlined the investigation.

He revealed how the accused had applied for jobseekers allowance saying she was working part-time at a local fitness centre.

The 45 year old businesswoman admitted to working on certain days but received payment, €177 per week, for the days she was not working.

In September 2014 she said she was no longer working part-time but would require full-time job-seeker’s allowance.

However, when staff at the Department contacted her employer he said she had never worked for her.

Instead she was self employed and was renting space at the centre doing beauty treatments and was not entitled to job-seekers allowance.

Overall the fraud went on much longer with the Department assessing that a total of €24,386 had been illegally claimed.

Solicitor for Ms Sali, Mr Patsy Gallagher said his client was very embarrassed and apologetic for what had happened.

A pay-back scheme had been agreed with the department on a basis of €28 per week.

Judge Paul Kelly described the Ms Salhi’s actions as “calculated disception over a period of time.”

He adjourned the case until April for probation report.