Victims describe assault as the worst day of their lives
THE two men who John Patrick Sweeney and Sammy Gavin attacked have described the mental and emotional trauma they experienced at their hands.
Neither men wished to be present in court so their Victim Impact Statements were read out at the sentence hearing in Sligo Circuit Criminal Court last week.
In his statement, Mr Damien McAndrew said that the assault and robbery he was subjected to on the Mall in September 2016 was the first time in his life to be attacked.
He said it was “an all-out assault which felt as though it was lasting a life time and began with a threat to my life.”
“I can no longer visit a strange town with ease. I’m still checking over my shoulder,” he wrote.
Mr McAndrew said his family was extremely distraught and he purposely didn’t go home that weekend as he didn’t want them to see him injured.
He said he stayed in college alone that weekend and afterwards “felt very close to leaving college.”
He said he was not the person he was before the attack and had been suffering from anxiety since then.
Mr Aaron Worth wrote that it was also his first time to be attacked and nothing could prepare him for it.
He said the attack was “instant” and he went into pure shock.
“It was one of the worst days of my life,” he said.
The court heard he had only come up to Sligo for a job interview the next day. Mr Worth said his father drove up to Sligo and stayed with him.
He said the assault has “changed life plans” and his confidence was damaged when walking on his own.
He said he was always looking behind him and was now never able to relax in a social setting.
He said he felt very reserved and “only partially comfortable around friends and family.”
Judge Johnson said their Victim Impact Statements made for “very disturbing and sad reading.”
“This savage attack has shattered their confidence and left them anxious for their safety in the future,” he said, adding that people must be deterred from committing these kinds of “nasty offences.”