Ex-lecturer left victim fearing she would die after drunken assault
Court told of vicious street attack by woman and her father
When I looked at the CCTV I could not believe I had survived REBECCA KENNEDY
A FORMER lecturer who admitted punching another woman 13 times in the head as she lay on the ground will be sentenced next month.
Guanita Brady, 30, beat Rebecca Kennedy so hard the injured party said she was “haunted by the fact I could have died in a pool of blood in the middle of the street”.
After the incident in Co Donegal, which also involved her father, a tearful Brady told gardai she “could not believe she had done that to that poor girl, I don’t know where that anger came from”.
The victim told the court: “I was nearly beaten to death. I still find it hard to believe it took three hours for the blood to be taken from my hair. When I looked at the CCTV of the incident I could not believe I had survived.”
Donegal Town Court heard Brady, from Greenisland, Co Antrim, had lost her job as a lecturer in Belfast Metropolitan College after the case
IN VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT
appeared in the press. Ms Kennedy said her “life changed forever” after she was repeatedly punched in the head by Brady and kicked in the head once by the defendant’s father Gerard Brady, 55, as she lay in the street in Ballyshannon on February 5 last year.
Both defendants admitted assault causing harm.
Guanita Brady also pleaded guilty to assaulting Simon Ferris, the boyfriend of the injured party, on the same date. Ms Kennedy added in her written victim impact statement, which she read in court: “I was hurt so bad I did not believe I would survive.
“When I woke up in the hospital, I thought I was in a car accident. From being a strong, confident and ambitious person, I am a shadow of what I used to be.” She said she was now suffering from depression and post traumatic stress disorder, had nightmares and had spent her savings on medical care.
The court heard the Bradys had assaulted the victim following an earlier incident in the smoking room of Dicey Reilly’s pub.
An officer said CCTV evidence, shown in court, showed Guanita Brady
with her right knee on the Dicey Reilly’s pub, Ballyshannon
YESTERDAY
injured party’s head and repeatedly striking her after grabbing her by the hair and pulling her to the ground.
Footage also showed Gerard Brady, from Belleek, Co Fermanagh, walk towards the two women and kick the injured party once in the head.
The court was told how, at voluntary interview, both Bradys made admissions and expressed remorse with Gerard Brady saying he was drunk and hoped the injured party recovered.
Counsel for Guanita Brady, Mr Toner, said there was a psychiatric report and a mix of alcohol and medication was “not a wise choice”.
Gerard Brady’s lawyer Peter Nolan said the assault was “entirely out of character” and would result in the loss of his job as a carer with the HSE after 24 years.
Judge John Aylmer added it was a “very troubling case” that would need “careful consideration”.
He adjourned sentencing December 4.
When I looked at CCTV I couldn’t believe I survived. REBECCA KENNEDY
until