Suspended sentence Donegal man found guilty of sex assault of 'arrant stupidity'

A Donegal man who was in Derry celebrating his birthday sexually assaulted a young woman in what a judge described as a piece of 'arrant stupidity'.

Thomas McCauley (32) of Cul na Cille, Ramelton, admitted one charge of sexual assault that occurred on April 1, 2023.

The court heard that police located a distressed female outside a fast food outlet on Derry's Strand Road.  Police spoke to her and she told them a male, whom she identified as McCauley, had grabbed her buttocks. 

An independent witness also approached police and confirmed that the defendant had touched the woman on the buttocks. 

Defence counsel Stephen Chapman said his client had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity. He said that clearly the defendant had taken a lot of alcohol and accepted the offence which he regrets. 

District Judge Ted Magill said that the defendant was 'extremely drunk' and described the incident as stupid but added that it must have been 'obviously very distressing for the young woman.'

He told McCauley that if he had contested the case he would have gone to prison. He imposed a sentence of three months in prison suspended for two years and ordered McCauley to pay £500 in compensation. He will also have to sign the Sex Offender's Register for a period of five years.