Donegal man pays €10,000 to victims to avoid prison after 'jealous rage' attack

A west Donegal man who left a ‘bloodbath’ after attacking his ex-girlfriend’s new partner while ‘in the throes of a jealous rage’ has avoided going to prison.

Daniel Ferry paid his victims a total of €10,000 by way of a token of remorse.

Ferry had been told that he would face a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence unless he came up with the money.

The accused, a 26-year-old from Shroughan, Falcarragh, broke into the home of Kerrie McFadden on August 7, 2020

Ferry pleaded guilty to burglary and also pleaded guilty to assaulting Barry McGinley and causing him harm, and of harassing Ms McFadden.

Mr McGinley woke up at 7.50am with a man straddling him and punching him on the face.

He was able to identify the assailant as Ferry, the ex-boyfriend of Ms McFadden.

Garda Martin Gallagher told the court that when he went to Letterkenny University Hospital to meet with Mr McGinley, he noticed the right-hand side of Mr McGinley’s face was completely swollen, from his right eye to his jawline. His lips and nose were beginning to turn black with bruising.

The court heard that Ferry had initiated a break-up with Ms McFadden, with whom he had been in a relationship for six years, and there had seemed to be no animosity.

Garda Gallagher said Ferry sent a snapchat message to a group of friends saying: “Not nice to find your partner of six years in bed with another man. Let’s hope his head is as sore as my knuckles”.

Counsel for the State, Ms Patricia McLaughlin BL, said Ferry had sent Ms McFadden several text messages, attended at her house and had followed her and Mr McGinley in the car.

“He was calling her persistently and he arrived at her driveway,” Ms McLaughlin said.

Ms McFadden said in a victim impact statement that her house had been left ‘like a bloodbath’ and she had to replace furniture. Cleaners were required to clean up the room.

“All I am left with is the place that he thought he had a right to violate,” Ms McFadden said. “His actions have taken my home away.”

Ms McFadden moved to the United Arab Emirates after the incident and she said she now sleeps with the lights on.

“His violation of my home and the stalking has taken away my independence and my trust in people,” Ms McFadden said. “My confidence was completely knocked. I have had to restart my whole life. The thought of living in Falcarragh any more is daunting.”

Mr McGinley said he felt ‘so fortunate to be still alive and conscious’ after the attack. “I felt so vulnerable and I felt defenceless,” he said. “There was nothing I could do and it intimidated me a lot.

“When the doctors told me that my skull may be fractured and my nose broke, it dawned on me how things could have changed and it was scary.”

Mr McGinley required surgery on his nose and he told how cracked and chipped teeth had made him ‘so conscious’ of his appearance.

Barrister for Ferry, Ms Siobhan Maguire BL, said her client ‘couldn’t cope’ when Ms McFadden began dating Mr McGinley’.

“He took his emotion and the subject of his anger and hurt out on Mr McGinley,” Ms Maguire said.

Judge John Aylmer said Ferry was ‘in the throes of a jealous rage’ when he initiated the attack.

“This is a man who, but for a once-off jealous rage, wouldn’t be before the court in relation to serious criminal offences,” Judge Aylmer said.

Sentences of two-and-a-half years imprisonment for burglary, two years in prison for assault and eight months in prison for harassment - to run concurrently - were set down. However, Judge Aylmer said he would suspend the entirety of the sentence were Ferry to come up with a total of €10,000 for his victims, sign up for a counselling programme and enter into a bond to keep the peace for two years.

The money was brought to Letterkenny Circuit Court to be handed over. Ms McFadden is to receive €2,000 with €8,000 going to Mr McGinley.