Search

14 Dec 2025

Derry man who bludgeoned two innocent men with a hammer jailed for six years

Philip Donnelly, a former construction worker from Templegrove in the Buncrana Road area of the city, who had no previous criminal convictions, pleaded guilty to two charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent on the two men in the early hours of June 24, 2023

husband-and-wife-charged-at-derry-magistrates-court-with-drugs-and-money-laundering-offences-following-organised-crime-investigation-by-the-psni

Derry Crown Court

Reporter:

Court Reporter

29 Apr 2025 3:33 PM

Email:

news@derrynow.com

A 54-year-old father of two who bludgeoned two innocent men with a hammer inflicting multiple facial fractures on them, after it had been miscommunicated to him that they'd been involved in an incident with his teenage daughter, has been jailed for six years at Derry Crown Court. 
Philip Donnelly, a former construction worker from Templegrove in the Buncrana Road area of the city, who had no previous criminal convictions, pleaded guilty to two charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent on the two men in the early hours of June 24, 2023.
His hammer attack on his two victims outside a bar at Duke Street in the Waterside was captured on CCTV. 
The footage, which was played in court before Judge Neil Rafferty KC, showed Donnelly repeatedly hitting his two victims on the head with his hammer.
Both victims sustained multiple facial bone and teeth fractures, facial lacerations and one of them sustained a fracture to his right ankle.
One of the men has since undergone nine facial operations and is due to have a tenth operation next November and his friend has so far paid £6,500 in dental bills for remedial treatment to his shattered teeth.
Judge Rafferty said Donnelly "seemed to have been motivated by parental outrage following a miscommunication about what had earlier happened to his daughter on the Craigavon Bridge".
A prosecution barrister told the court that after Donnelly had received a 'phone call in the early hours of the morning when he was at home asleep, he left his home and drove off in his van looking for two men. 
After he noticed the two innocent men walking along Duke Street, Donnelly attacked both men. 
One of his victims was knocked unconscious when Donnelly hit him on the head with the hammer before Donnelly then broke his victim's right ankle with a hammer blow as he lay on the street.
Judge Rafferty said Donnelly "deployed the hammer with a brutal and savage effect. This was an incident which was short, brutal and very violent in which both victims fell to the ground".
He added: "It is quite clear that from the outset the defendant inflicted numerous injuries to the head with a hammer to both victims. In my view this was a defendant taking the law into his own hands and inflicting significant injuries on two innocent men. It was a one off act of madness by someone who had lost their temper.
"It must be made absolutely clear that where people inflict significant violence on innocent members of the public with a weapon, in this case with a hammer, they can only expect to receive a significant custodial sentence."

To continue reading this article,
please subscribe and support local journalism!

Subscribing will allow you access to all of our premium content and archived articles.

Subscribe

To continue reading this article for FREE,
please kindly register and/or log in.

Registration is absolutely 100% FREE and will help us personalise your experience on our sites. You can also sign up to our carefully curated newsletter(s) to keep up to date with your latest local news!

Register / Login

Most Popular

Sponsored Content

Multimedia

We've got Donegal Covered...

Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie

Buy a paper

Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.

Buy Now
Get the news

Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.

Register Here
Iconic Media is Ireland's largest independently owned regional newspaper and media group, with an unrivalled audience in print, online and mobile. We have 19 regional newspapers and 21 digital sites.

Iconic Digital Titles

  • Carlow Live
  • Clare Live
  • Derry Now
  • Donegal Live
  • Éire Bheo
  • Inish Live
  • Ireland Live
  • Kildare Live
  • Kildare Now
  • Kilkenny Live
  • Laois Live
  • Leitrim Live
  • Letterkenny Live
  • Limerick Live
  • Longford Live
  • Louth Live
  • Mayo Live
  • Nenagh Live
  • Offaly Live
  • Tipperary Live
  • Waterford Live

    • Iconic Print Titles

  • Clonmel Nationalist
  • County Derry Post
  • Derry News
  • Donegal Democrat
  • Donegal Post
  • Dundalk Democrat
  • Homes in Donegal
  • Inish Times
  • Kilkenny People
  • Leinster Express
  • Leinster Leader
  • Leitrim Observer
  • Letterkenny Live
  • Limerick Leader
  • Longford Leader
  • Mayo News
  • Midland Tribune
  • Tipperary Star
  • Tullamore Tribune

    • This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.

    © 2025 Iconic Media