Letterkenny assault accused tells court sentencing delay 'getting beyond a joke'

A man awaiting sentencing for the assault of a young woman in Letterkenny has hit out at a further delay in his case.

Seamus Cooley appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court via video link from Castlerea Prison.

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

Mr Senan Crawford BL told the court that Cooley is due to undergo a psychiatric assessment next week. He said this matter has been on the court list on two previous occasions and that it has been stated before that the report is awaited.

“Hopefully following the assessment, a report will be ready in two to three weeks,” Mr Crawford said.

“We would like to get the matter heard, but I’m just not sure how optimistic it is for a sentencing date during this session.”

Barrister for the State, Ms Fiona Crawford BL, said this was a “matter for the defence” in the case.

Counsel said the matter could go back until the May sitting of Letterkenny Circuit Court and Cooley interjected: “The report will be done at the end of February. Can I be sentenced around March 3 because the report will be done by then.”

Cooley told Judge John Aylmer that he has been awaiting the assessment for seven months now.

“It is getting beyond a joke,” Cooley said. “If there is any more time, it will be coming into an 18-month prison sentence.”

Mr Crawford said he shared his client’s frustration, but said he would be “more confident” of the report being ready for the May sitting of the court.

Judge Aylmer explained to Cooley that the Circuit Court sits every quarter “so I can’t just wait for a report to fix a date”. Judge Aylmer added: “If it can’t be dealt with in this session, I will have to adjourn it until the next session, which is in May. That is the soonest possible date that I can give you.”

Cooley said that there were “another few incidents” that he wanted to mention, but the video link was cut off at this point. 

Cooley was remanded in custody to appear before the May sitting of Letterkenny Circuit Court. 

A previous court sitting in December heard that the victim in the case had returned from Australia for a three-week period during the October 2025 sitting of Letterkenny Circuit Court.

Last June, Cooley was remanded in custody after being found to have breached conditions of his bail when he appeared at Cavan Circuit Court.

In remanding Cooley in custody, Judge 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.

In July, when he tendered a guilty plea, a fresh application for bail was refused by Judge Roderick Maguire at Letterkenny Circuit Court.

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

Judge Maguire said that, given the history in the matter - noting that Cooley was given a chance to adhere to conditions, but then breached them - he would not grant bail.

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.