Man pleads guilty to serious assault of young woman in Letterkenny

A man has pleaded guilty to seriously assaulting a young woman in Letterkenny.

Seamus Cooley pleaded guilty to the assault of Shanan Reid-McDaid when he appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court.

The 50-year-old was charged with assaulting Ms Reid McDaid and causing her harm on October 15, 2017 at Castle Street, Letterkenny.

The accused man, wearing a striped polo shirt and jeans, spoke only to plead guilty to the charge when it was read to him by the court registrar.

A fresh application for bail was refused by Judge Roderick Maguire.

Cooley was brought to court by prison officers having been recently remanded in custody at Castlerea Prison after being found to have breached conditions of his bail when he appeared at Cavan District Court on June 20.

His barrister, Mr Feargal Kavanagh SC, told the court that his client’s sister, Ms Sinead Moore, would provide a €1,000 surety and said Cooley was willing to tender €10,000 compensation to the victim.

Mr Kavanagh, with Mr Pat Sullivan BL, instructed by solicitor Mr Daniel Kreith told the court that Cooley has spent 21 days in a “grossly overcrowded” prison and is finally facing up to the charge.

Mr Kavanagh asked that legal aid be extended to cover a psychiatric assessment and report on Cooley. He said that Cooley is not a flight risk and needs “immediate intervention:”

Ms Fiona Crawford BL, barrister for the State, said that Cooley has already taken a bench warrant in this and that there have been two applications previously for the revocation of bail. 

In remanding Cooley in custody at Cavan Circuit Court, Judge John Aylmer said that the accused had “displayed arrogance” and showed a “flagrant disregard” for bail conditions previously set by the court.

Under the terms of his bail, Cooley was due to sign-on three times a week at Buncrana Garda Station, but he had only an 82 per cent adherence. Cooley told the Gardai that he was happy with the amount of times he was signing on and that he was happy to sign on when it suited him. He told Gardai that he started working throughout the country and it “didn’t suit him some days” to sign on.

Before Judge Maguire, Mr Kavanagh said Cooley now requires professional intervention and that he has had difficulty facing up to the issues. Mr Kavanagh told the court that there have been a number of legal teams involved in managing his case.

“He seems to be finally in a position where he is facing up to this issue,” Mr Kavanagh said, “Putting him into a prison cell with three others and hoping to advance matters is not going to serve justice. He is five years facing trial and the stresses of that alone are not doing him any favours.”

Ms Crawford pointed out that, having pleaded guilty, Cooley no longer enjoys the presumption of innocence. 

Mr Kavanagh said his client has turned up on each and every occasion to court and said he was concerned that Cooley’s mental health could deteriorate.

Judge Maguire noted that an affidavit of Garda Neil Kemmy shared three breaches: he was not inhabiting an address given to Gardai; he was not signing on as required; and he interacted with the complainant.

Ms Moore told Judge Maguire that her brother previously attended a psychotherapist and believed that he would again benefit from mental health intervention.

She said she would “do my absolute best” to be on her brother’s case on a daily basis to ensure that he abided by the terms of his bail. Ms Moore told the court that she had not had much interaction with her brother recently, but added: “I will be involved now. I really will.”

Mr Kavanagh said he was anxious that the State did not victimise Cooley by incarcerating him. 

“He knows what he is facing,” Mr Kavanagh said. “It will make things far more difficult to do justice if he is incarcerated.”

He said that Cooley’s guilty plea has avoided a four-five day trial and asked Judge Maguire to impose conditions, accept the surety and allow Cooley to engage with services.

Judge Maguire extended legal aid to cover a psychiatrist consultation and report, but given the history in the matter - noting that Cooley was given a chance to adhere to conditions, but then breached them - he said he would not grant bail.

Cooley was remanded in custody and will be sentenced in October. 

In February 2020, Cooley was sent forward to the Circuit Court and a court previously advised that media coverage of the case should not include the accused’s address.