Row over pet dog 'Fluffy' led to assault on sister, Letterkenny court told

A Donegal man who assaulted his sister after their family pet dog urinated in his bedroom, has appeared in court.

Raymond Duffy appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court having pleaded guilty to assaulting his sister Sharleen Duffy at the family home at Knockagarron, Convoy, on April 10, 2021.

Garda Jamie McGroary outlined the details of the incident to the court.

The court was told that Duffy, 44, had been in bed and did not get up until 5pm and, according to his sister, was acting in an aggressive way.

After dinner, a row had started after Ms Duffy had heard the accused shouting at the family pet dog, a Bichon Frisé named Fluffy.

Ms Duffy reported that she heard Fluffy “running frantically and yelping”. She told Gardai that her brother had called the dog a 'bastard' several times and was chasing it around a coffee table.

Mr Duffy later claimed that the dog had urinated in his bedroom.

Ms Duffy protested to her brother but he responded by pulling her hair and telling her that he was going to break her jaw. “I will do it right,” he was alleged to have said.

The court was further told that she responded by telling Mr Duffy that “revenge is a dish best served cold”.

The following day Ms Duffy said that she found clumps of her hair had come out where her brother had pulled it and she admitted that  she was "shitting herself" and shaking with fear after the assault.

Mr Duffy, who represented himself in court, said he had cooperated in every way with Gardai.

He also handed in a letter to Judge John Aylmer by way of background and mitigation which the Judge read in his chambers.

Judge Aylmer asked if the case might have been dealt with in the district court and was told that the Director of Public Prosecutions had directed the case could be heard summarily by way of a guilty plea. 

Passing sentence, he placed the incident at the lower end of the scale saying that if he had pleaded guilty in the district court the case would have been dealt with in a non-custodial way.

He added the incident appeared to happen during the Covid-19 pandemic when Duffy was a carer for his mother and during what appeared to be a stressful time in the household.

Duffy had pleaded guilty and Judge Aylmer noted this was obviously out of character as he had no previous convictions.

Judge Aylmer that the accused wanted to pursue a career as a coach driver and this matter had been hanging over him for a considerable period of time and it was understandably stressful.

Duffy had proposed to make a €150 donation to Alzheimers Ireland and another €150 to the Little Blue Heroes Foundation as a token of his remorse.

The Judge said this was a case pursuant of Section 100 of the Criminal Justice Act 2008 in which he would indicate a penalty that he will impose on a date six months from now but that if Duffy complied with all conditions then he simply would not impose that penalty.

He ordered Duffy to keep the peace and be of good behaviour and pay the donation to the two charities and get a receipt for both.

If that is done then he will discharge him pursuant of Section 100 of the Criminal Justice Act 2008.

However, if Duffy has not made the donations or comes to Garda attention then he will be fined €1,000.