Man who twice attacked neighbour's home and tried to escape by swimming to Tyrone has jail sentence doubled

A man from Raphoe in County Donegal has had his prison sentence doubled by the Court of Appeal following two attacks on his neighbour's home and an assault that left her with a broken jaw. Leon Kelly was originally sentenced to two-and-a-half years, with twelve months suspended, by Letterkenny Circuit Court in November 2020 for assault causing harm and criminal damage. The Director of Public Prosecutions appealed on grounds of undue leniency. The court heard that Kelly rammed his vehicle into his neighbour's car and home on 13 April 2019, causing €13,000 in damage and breaking the woman's jaw. He subsequently fled across the River Finn into Northern Ireland but was apprehended by the PSNI and returned. Eight days later, he attacked the same property again with his Volkswagen Passat. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy increased the sentence to three years imprisonment, finding the original term did not reflect the gravity and violence of the offences.