JAIL FOR 18 KICKS TO VICTIM’S HEAD
Judge says ‘miraculous no more injury was suffered’
A YOUNG father-of-two who kicked a man 18 times in the head has been jailed for two years.
John “Nipper” Sweeney, 29, appeared before Letterkenny Circuit Court in Co Donegal following the attack on September 29, 2022.
Footage of the attack was broadcast in court as part of CCTV evidence which showed the accused repeatedly kicking his victim in the head.
The court was told Sweeney stopped after somebody shouted “the shades [gardai] are coming” before he returned and began kicking his victim again.
The court had previously been told by Detective Garda Johnny Sweeney that this was the worst attack he has seen in 20 years of service. He added that at one stage on the CCTV Sweeney is seen “kicking the victim several times continuously and at one stage running up to him akin to kicking a football”.
Detective Garda Declan O’keefe gave overall evidence of the incident.
He told how gardai encountered traffic at a standstill at Lower Main Street in Letterkenny while an incident took place at Burnside Apartments at 4.20pm. Gardai noticed a man trying to stand up who had cuts to his head.
Another man who they knew as
Sweeney, was drunk and unsteady on his feet with blood on his mouth and forehead and was shouting at gardai: “Arrest me. He assaulted me.”
Sweeney pleaded guilty to a Section 3 assault on the other man although he claimed it was in selfdefence. The court was LOCKED UP told Sweeney has 69 previous convictions, one for assault. Judge John Aylmer asked the extent of the victim’s injuries and a picture of the man was handed into court which showed severe swelling to his head and face.
Judge John Aylmer said: “It is miraculous that no more injury was suffered.”
He said while it was clear the victim was the aggressor, Sweeney accepts he used force that was greater than necessary and that before mitigation the attack merited a sentence of four years in prison.