A young Co Donegal man who carried out two separate violent attacks on complete strangers is to be sentenced early next year.
John McGinley (19) stabbed one man in the ear and neck as he waited for a taxi and also beat up a 70-year-old man who was out for an early-morning walk.
McGinley appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court, where he pleaded guilty to both attacks.
He is already serving a 3½-year sentence for slashing a man in the face with a knife outside a fast-food restaurant in Letterkenny in April 2022.
The court was told that McGinley had been taking drugs since the age of 11 and also suffered from psychiatric issues, having lost a number of members of his family.
Garda Sgt Maurice Doyle outlined the latest charges against McGinley, whom the court was told has six previous convictions.
In the first incident on October 31st, 2022, McGinley attacked a stranger who was waiting for a taxi on Letterkenny’s Main Street.
Patrick Durning had gone socialising after earlier playing golf in Portsalon and was waiting to get a taxi home.
He felt a “pinch” on his ear and felt a wet release down his neck before realising that blood was gushing out of his ear and neck.
He was rushed by ambulance to Letterkenny University Hospital, where he was given emergency treatment.
Mr Durning gave a victim impact statement describing how he became depressed and couldn’t get out of bed or socialise after the attack.
McGinley’s second attack was committed against a 70-year-old pensioner who was out for a stroll at 5.45am at Glenwood Park in Letterkenny on June 16th, 2023.
The court was told that James Doheny was out on his housing estate with his partner hoping to catch a glimpse of the red moon.
As he walked along a young man approached him and asked him whether he lived on the estate.
The young man suddenly threw a punch at Mr Doheny, who managed to duck but was then hit with a punch in the kidneys and he dropped to the ground.
When he was on the ground the young man kicked him in the head, forcing the man to cover his face but not before another kick was delivered, hitting him in the hand as he protected his face.
In his victim impact statement, Mr Doheny said that before he was brutally beaten he was recovering from a stroke and this incident had severely affected his recovery.
Judge Aylmer adjourned the final sentencing until the next session of the Circuit Court in February 2025.
