Man jailed for savage attack on teenager in Donegal
Chris McNulty
A quantity surveyor has been jailed after launching a savage and unprovoked attack on a teenage woman in Donegal
Seamus Cooley repeatedly punched Shanan Reid McDaid in the face in a random assault on the 18-year-old in October 2017.
Cooley, who has had addresses at The Grange, Letterkenny and St Jude’s Court, Lifford, was sentenced to four years in prison by Judge John Aylmer at Letterkenny Circuit Court.
The 51-year-old Cooley has 13 convictions, including 10 for public order matters, from the District Court and also one conviction for an aggravated assault from Northern Ireland.
The court heard that he walked off into the night after leaving his victim covered in blood at Castle Street, Letterkenny, in the early hours of October 15th, 2017.
The case was outlined to Fiona Crawford, barrister for the State, by investigating Garda Neil Kemmy.
Reid McDaid had been out socialising and was walking up the Market Square to meet them. A man, now known to be Cooley, was nearby and shouted derogatory remarks at her.
The victim reported that she noticed the man had stopped walking, but had continued to verbally taunt her.
When she got within arm’s length of Cooley, he was facing her head-on, and he stuck her in the face with a closed fist.
Cooley rained a series of punches on Reid McDaid’s face. The young woman estimated that she was struck eight-to-10 times by Cooley.
“He just left,” she later told gardaí.
Reid McDaid was able to give a detailed description of her attacker to gardaí. A friend of Reid McDaid told how the woman told her pals, “I have been hit”. The man said that Reid McDaid’s face “didn’t look real”.
Reid McDaid was taken to the hospital, where injuries were found, including a suspected broken nose, two chipped teeth, a cut to the side of the head, a sore jaw, as well as swelling and bruising to her face.
A report from Gerry Lane, a consultant in Letterkenny University Hospital, noted that the injuries were “entirely consistent with an assault”.
When Garda Kemmy saw the victim, her face and clothes were covered in blood, while he also noted chips to her teeth and a cut to the side of her head.
CCTV was harvested, and Cooley was identified by members of An Garda Síochána.
Search warrant
A search warrant was obtained and executed at Cooley’s home, where a jacket was found and forensically analysed by Forensic Science Ireland. Blood staining with a profile matching the victim was located.
When he was interviewed by gardaí, Cooley was said to have been “extremely derogatory” towards Reid McDaid and also to other women.
He claimed to gardaí that she was a liar and outlined that forensics was “all nonsense”. He said the allegation against him was “bullshit” and claimed that gardaí were planting evidence.
Cooley denied the attack and pointed the finger at another man when he was shown CCTV.
“I am innocent and have done nothing wrong,” he told gardaí, while he said he was prejudiced and discriminated against.
In a victim impact statement, which was read out by Crawford, Reid McDaid said that a night out in her home town with friends turned into a “life-altering event that had a lasting impact”.
She told how she required dental intervention and was in pain for months afterwards.
Reid McDaid said she suffered from physical injuries and was also at a significant financial loss, but said the most devastating impact was the emotional trauma.
She told the court that she has had symptoms of PTSD and panic attacks, triggered by minor incidents.
“My body is stuck in a constant state of fight or flight,” she said, adding that she has avoided social settings and felt afraid in her own community.
The incident occurred just as she was starting university. She said that NUIG were “extremely supportive”, but she “always felt a few steps behind.
What made her ideal even harder was that it took almost eight years for Cooley to take accountability - something that made her feel as if justice was being denied.
Social media
“I had to carry the weight of it for so long,” she said. It made me angry, resentful and deeply frustrated.”
Reid McDiad recalled how Cooley engaged with one of her social media platforms after she moved to Australia. This, she said, “deeply unsettled me and reopened old wounds.”
At this point, she feared that she “might not ever be truly free from his presence or reach” and noted the toll the matter took on her family.
James McGowan, with Senan Crawford, instructed by solicitor Conor Moylan of Madden & Finucane, represented Cooley.
McGowan said his client was bullied and troubled at home as a child. He said his childhood was “traumatic” and outlined difficulties with his parents.
He said that Cooley reported that the atmosphere was “bad much of the time” and said Cooley, a qualified quantity surveyor, suffered from depression and had suicidal ideations.
Cooley offered €2,500 to the victim, but she did not wish to accept it, the court was informed.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact Women’s Aid (24-hour freephone helpline at 1800-341 900, email helpline@womensaid.ie) or Men’s Aid Ireland (confidential helpline at 01-554 3811, email hello@mensaid.ie) for support and information.
Safe Ireland also offers a number of local services and helplines at safeireland.ie/get-help/where-to-find-help/. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.
