Woman shot in backside with a BB gun

A “VIOLENT” and “coercive” young Sligo man who shot his ex-partner in the “backside” during a “game” has been given a suspended jail sentence at the district court.

The court was told that 28-yearold Kyle Neilan, with a court address as Rathbraughan Park, Sligo, but who has been living in Belmullet, Co. Mayo, in recent years, shot his then partner Shauna Lynch with a BB gun in October 2019.

It was part of a “game” where they took turns to fire the gun, which fires plastic balls, at each other, the court heard.

The defendant pleaded guilty to assaulting his ex-partner Shauna Lynch on a date unknown between October 11 and October 12, 2019, at Cloonshanbally, Culfadda, by firing the gun at her.

In a different incident he pleaded guilty to assaulting Shauna Lynch on November 1, 2019, at the same location. A victim impact statement read out on behalf of Shauna Lynch, who was not in court, said Neilan had been been violent to her when she was pregnant with their baby in 2012 and she got away from him to “protect myself”.

The defendant had driven her demented, she said.

In 2019 she decided to let him back into her life when he said he would change and stop drinking, which was, she said, “was the worst mistake of my life”.

The violence and abuse continued, but the defendant went to rehab and she “gave him a chance”.

But the defendant forced her to leave her own home and move in with his parents to “make sure I was not cheating on him”.

The couple had counselling sessions, but the abuse continued. The statement added that things got worse and more violent and she had to ask his permission to go out.

The defendant put her on a curfew. He shot her with his BB gun and wounded her in the back. Ms Lynch got a barring order, but the defendant had stood outside the court to try to intimidate her.

“I am not the same person I was,” she said. She added that she lived behind a bolted door. The statement said that even though she had a barring order she lived in constant fear. She had flashbacks and often broke down crying.

Defence solicitor Tom MacSharry said the defendant had shot Shauna Lynch in the backside with the BB gun. He added that the injured party used to “shoot him as well as part of a game”. The defendant had written a letter of apology.

Kyle Neilan told the court he was “very apologetic” for his actions in that relationship. “We both had been drinking and it was toxic,” he said.

He said he had got help for his alcohol issues and added that he was different when he “came out” and alleged that his ex-partner was the same and was drinking and “hiding bottles of wine around the house”.

He said he was off alcohol for 21 months and it was the best thing he had ever done.

He was attending AA meetings and took care of a meeting for 70 people recently and had attended meetings every day.

The defendant said he was living in Belmullet, Co. Mayo, as he could not live in Sligo as it was “very toxic”.

He was in a new relationship. Aubrey Melville of Social Ground Force said the defendant was a “great success”, had moved to Mayo and was no longer hanging around with people who got him into trouble.

The defendant had a “sense of gratitude” for the 12 Steps of Recovery.

His self-esteem had improved, and he was living in a different world and was trying to build a life.

He was now helping other young people to recover and was chairing Zoom meetings, which was quite an achievement. Mr MacSharry said it was a big ask but asked that his client be spared jail.

The court heard the defendant had 17 previous convictions that included a number of public order matters.

Judge Kevin Kilrane said the victim impact statement was “quite harrowing.”

The judge described the defendant as a “wife beater”. He said: “I don’t have much time for wife beaters – they deserve to be jailed.”

The judge said this was not just a single incident, but the victim impact statement showed it was “persistent abuse and assaults” over a lengthy period of time. Judge Kilrane said the victim was assaulted and had been in a coercive, abusive relationship. The defendant had 17 previous convictions, which took away some of the mitigating factors, and had been persistently re-offending over a lengthy period of time.

The judge said he was not impressed by defendant’s “apology”, which was “not 100 per cent”.

His attitude was that the injured party was part of the problem and hid bottles of alcohol. The judge said this certainly did not justify her being assaulted and beaten. Mitigating factors were the guilty plea that spared his ex-partner the trauma of coming to court. The defendant had given an “80 per cent apology” and had moved on from his addiction to calm waters where he was looking after others.

The judge said this was impressive and he was impressed by Mr Melville’s testimony on how the defendant had turned his life around.

Referring to the defendant being “in with a bad crowd in Sligo”, the judge said: “There is a reason why people are in bad company and that is they are bad company themselves. He has picked up 17 convictions including a more recent one in Belmullet.”

The judge said the defendant appeared to have straightened out his life and he would not be jailed today.

However, he was getting a threemonth jail sentence suspended for two years.

The judge said: “The victim impact statement showed that this was persistent abuse and assaults and I have made my views clear on that.”

The sentence was suspended on condition that the defendant was not convicted of any act of violence, including resisting arrest and public order matters. He was also to stay sober and avoid any other illicit substances.

The defendant was released on his own bond of €100.