Letterkenny man jailed after terrifying burglary and unprovoked assault - Donegal Daily

A Letterkenny man who smashed his way into the home of a terrified woman and who inflicted an unprovoked assault on a dog walker has been jailed.Paddy Sweeney w...

A Letterkenny man who smashed his way into the home of a terrified woman and who inflicted an unprovoked assault on a dog walker has been jailed.

Paddy Sweeney was jailed for 16 months, with the last four months suspended, when he appeared at Letterkenny District Court.

He also embarked on a theft spree in Letterkenny and was before the court on a total of 24 charges.

Sweeney, a 29-year-old of Lower Main Street, Letterkenny, appeared via video link from Castlerea Prison, where he has been in custody since May when he was denied bail at a sitting of Dungloe District Court.

Sweeney has 31 previous convictions, including three for assault causing harm, three for robbery, two for theft, one for burglary, one for trespassing and one for escaping from lawful custody.

Garda Sergeant Jim Collins outlined the catalogue of offending to Judge Emile Daly.

The court heard that on May 5, 2026, Sweeney kicked in the door of an apartment in Letterkenny. A female was in a bedroom with the door slightly ajar.

Sweeney began shouting at the female - who it was confirmed he did not know - to give his phone back. Sweeney picked up a child’s drawing tablet and a laptop as he demanded his phone back. The phone was not on the property, the court heard.

Sweeney then put his hand around the woman’s neck and attempted to elbow her. The woman eventually got free of Sweeney and a neighbour intervened.

The court heard that Gardai received a report at 1.20am from a man on October 1, 2024, who said he was assaulted on High Road, Letterkenny. The man said he had left his home at 12.30am to take his dog for a walk. He sat down on a small bench at High Road and two males came towards him.

One man became “hostile” and in an unprovoked attack the man was punched on the lip. He was then elbowed on the face, to his cheek and eye socket. The men pulled the jacket over the victim’s head and continued to kick and punch him.

Sweeney was also charged with the theft of two four-packs of Desperadoes bottles and five cans of Four Loko, all valued at €48, from Kernan’s Spar, Letterkenny, on May 11, 2026.

On the same date and location he was charged with the theft of two eight-packs of Tennants and seven cans of Four Loko, with a combined value of €66.20, while he was also charged with stealing three cans of Four Loko, valued at €15.75, from Kernan’s Spar on the same date.

The court heard that Sweeney entered a shop at Long Lane, Letterkenny on November 10, 2021 and asked the shop assistant to call a taxi and he provided a phone number. When the person answered and said it was not a taxi service, Sweeney broke a perspex Covid screen. Compensation of €100 was directed to have been paid, but this was not done, Sergeant Collins said.

Sweeney was stopped by Gardai at 3.55pm on March 20, 2024 and searched by Gardai, who located a small penknife on his person. Sweeney told Gardai that the item was for his own protection.

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He was also before the court on several public order charges, including two where he challenged members of An Garda Siochana to fight while a range of other public order matters were struck out.

Judge Daly said that she expected that in Sweeney’s previous offending that the court was told he wouldn’t reoffend and that assurance would have been given.

Judge Daly said she wanted assurance that Sweeney would not drink alcohol again.

“He hasn’t turned his back on bad choices, but now he has had time to reflect and to get some help,” Judge Daly said.

His solicitor, Mr Rory O’Brien said that Sweeney has ruined most of his 20s due to a chronic alcohol addiction: “Life had become this cycle of drinking too much and engaging in this appalling and disgraceful behaviour - and that is being nice; that is your defence solicitor calling it that.”

Mr O’Brien said that there were no excuses for these incidents, but added that Sweeney’s offending was alcohol-motivated.

He said that there was a “large degree of shame” from Sweeney about the offending.

“I would ask the court to consider that if he has shame he has hope,” Mr O’Brien said. “He can turn the corner for once and for all. It won’t be easy for him, but he is a young man not living in La La Land. He is rightfully accepting his wrongs, he is entering a plea and he has a genuine desire to resolve.”

Mr O’Brien added that Sweeney’s peer association group is “fairly negative” and the court heard that Sweeney’s mother has left the jurisdiction recently,

“I am very sorry for everything I’ve done,” he said. “I’m very sorry to the victims. There is no excuse for what I did. I’m very sorry for what I did.”

Asked by Judge Daly for an explanation, he replied: “Drink took over my life. That is where my downfall came from.”

Sweeney told Judge Daly that he hasn’t seen his baby son yet and added: “I want to be a better man for my children.”

For the assault causing harm on High Road, Judge Daly sentenced Sweeney to eight months in prison.

“It was not a nice picture,” Judge Daly said. “An entirely innocent was out walking his dog and was set upon.”

Judge Daly also sentenced Sweeney to eight months in prison for the burglary to run consecutive to the other sentence.

“That is to reflect the seriousness of this,” Judge Daly said. “That must have been a terrifying scenario. She was in her apartment and her door was smashed in. You were of the belief that she had taken your phone and none of that had any basis.”

The final four months of that 16-month total were suspended for two years on the basis that Sweeney attends a service, such as AA, that he requires to remind himself that he cannot drink alcohol.

A range of other sentences, including two months for the theft charges and two months for the possession of a knife, were handed down by Judge Daly and these are to run concurrent to the other sentences.

“The penalty is necessary because what you were on was an escalating problem,” Judge Daly told Sweeney. “Things were getting worse. The hope is that when you end the sentence you will equip yourself with the skills you need to choose better,”

The sentence is to be dated from May 12 when Sweeney was remanded in custody.