Man sentenced for breaking woman’s nose and spraying bleach in her face at party

A man sprayed bleach in a woman’s face and then broke her nose with a punch at a party after she told him he was too young to be drinking.

Catherine Gallagher suffered the injuries after she was attacked by Derek McGinley at the party at a house in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, on January 13th, 2018.

The victim suffered a broken nose during the attack and had to have it rebroken to have it treated at Sligo University Hospital.

Ms Gallagher, who was 24, previously told Letterkenny District Court that she had been socialising in Letterkenny before going to a house party with a female friend and two other men at Meadowbank.

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While in the sittingroom of the house, she said she realised there was also a then 16-year-old in the house and she said she did not want to be drinking with him.

She went into a bedroom to join her friend and the two men to drink.

However, the accused man and another man came into the room and began spraying both Fabreeze and a bottle of spray bleach.

Some of the bleach got into Ms Gallagher’s eyes and she pushed McGinley.

Words were exchanged and the woman slapped McGinley and he warned her that if she hit him again he would hit her back.

Ms Gallagher slapped him again and McGinley lashed out with one punch and the woman fell to the ground with blood gushing from her nose.

McGinley, who is now 18, then said that Ms Gallagher “punched like a b***h”.

Gardaí were called and McGinley apologised but Ms Gallagher told the accused that he could “shove his apology”.

Solicitor for McGinley, of Windmill View, Letterkenny, Mr Kieran Dillon, said his client was acting out of self-defence.

He also said a lot of drink had been taken and that Ms Gallagher and her friend had been out drinking from the previous night and the alleged incident had happened at 9am the following morning.

Garda Inspector Siobhan Mollohan said: “We have all seen the effects of what one punch can do and it doesn’t matter if it’s a male or female.

“She did admit that she slapped him and pushed him but he had several chances to walk away but didn’t and he punched her and broke her nose.”

Judge Paul Kelly said he found the facts proven because of a number of matters.

He said it appeared that McGinley’s actions were not self-defence but retaliation, saying that his use of force was excessive.

He also referred to McGinley claiming that Ms Gallagher “punched like a b***h” was a derogatory term which claimed the force used was weak and ineffective.

The judge said: “He had numerous opportunities to retreat and was in no danger from this woman.”

McGinley had not been in court for the initial hearing in October 2020 and the judge ordered a bench warrant for his arrest.

McGinley was arrested five weeks ago and has been in custody since.

He appeared in court again on Monday and his solicitor, Mr Rory O’Brien, said the incident arose “from an over-indulgence on narcotics”.

“He had neither focus or direction,” Mr O’Brien said.

The judge said the assault, committed when the accused was a juvenile, was a “serious one”.

McGinley was given a four-month sentence, which was back-dated to April 24th. However, the balance of the sentence was suspended from yesterday on the condition that he entered into a bond of €100.

McGinley also faced two charges of possession of cannabis, with a total value of €747. He made admissions when interviewed by gardaí, Sgt Jim Collins said.

He was given the benefit of the Probation Act for one of the possession charges with the other marked as taken into account by the judge. A fine of €250 was also imposed.