U.S. tourist (48) assaulted his father, two gardaí and caused damage at two homes including that of a Cavan couple
The Sligo ChampionA 48-year-old U.S. tourist assaulted his father, two gardaí and caused more than €5,000 worth of damage to a couple’s home in Co. Cavan during a visit to Ireland.
James Shannon (48) of Fosters Avenue, Hyde Park, Boston, Massachusetts, USA appeared before Judge John Alymer at Leitrim Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday, July 7.
He was charged with damaging a kitchen window, electric fences, wired fences, flower pots, and garden furniture belonging to Ronan Slowey and damaging a Nissan X Trail belonging to Martha Slowey at Dunary, Lisnageer, Cootehill, Co. Cavan on September 16, 2025.
He was also charged with assaulting Sergeant John Nolan and Detective Garda David Kerrigan at Cavan General Hospital on the same date.
The defendant was also charged with assaulting his father, Michael Shannon and damaging his home and belongings at Ballinalacken, Doolin, Co. Clare on September 14, 2025.
Ms Monica Lawlor BL along with State solicitor Ms Fiona Baxtor prosecuted whilst Ms Niamh Murtagh Quinn BL instructed by Mr Niall Fox appeared for Shannon.
Detective Garda Gearoid Crawford outlined the evidence led by Ms Lawlor.
He first read out a statement from Mr Michael Shannon, the defendant’s father who had a holiday home in Doolin, Co. Clare since the 1980s.
On August 25, 2025, his son James travelled from the United States for a visit.
On September 14, Michael Shannon was home when he heard a bang at the front door. He saw that his son smashed the kitchen window and started shouting at him, but he could not understand what he was saying.
His son then attacked him, injuring his leg and his forehead. Mr Shannon Snr left and went towards a neighbour’s shed to avoid his son. Later on in the day, he returned to the house to find that two TVs were broken and that his son turned on the taps upstairs which caused a significant amount of water damage. In total, the defendant damaged six items in the holiday home.
Dt Gda Crawford confirmed that Michael Shannon was now back in the U.S and that he was reluctant to give evidence against his son.
On September 16, James Shannon arrived in Cootehill, Co. Cavan and stayed with one of his relatives.
The court heard that the defendant had visited the area often when he was a child, and liked going to a fort close by.
Shannon visited the fort but found that there was a lot of rubbish around it, such as old tyres. The defendant thought that the fort had been desecrated and made enquiries as to who the landowners were.
Ms Martha Slowey was in her house with her two children, who were 12 and 11-years-old when she heard the letterbox banging just past 6pm. She looked out the door to see Shannon dismantling her flower pots. He told her that he wanted to speak to her husband, Ronan.
Ms Slowey informed him that her husband was at work, and then closed the door on him and rang her husband. Shannon then went to the back garden of the house and damaged a wire fence.
Ms Slowey’s car, a Nissan X Trail was then damaged by Shannon who threw a concrete block at it which smashed its front windscreen.
Shannon then threw another concrete block through Mr Slowey’s car and wrote “UK, UK” into the paintwork of the car. Shannon kept asking Ms Slowey, where is he and was not making any sense.
The defendant kept coming up to the windows of Ms Slowey’s house shouting and raving. She was told by Shannon that the fort was completely desecrated and that she had to ring her husband.
Shannon then broke the kitchen window. Whilst, he was reaching through the window for the handle, a shard of glass cut Shannon on the right arm which slowed him down.
After he was cut, Shannon left Ms Slowey’s house and started walking up the road towards Cavan General Hospital.
The court was then shown footage that Ms Slowey recorded on her phone of the incident.
In one clip, Ms Slowey is heard asking Shannon what his name was. Shannon replies Noddy at first but then told her his name was James McEntee.
In another clip, a distressed Ms Slowey replied “oh my god” when she was on the phone to the gardaí, who told her that the nearest patrol car was 25 minutes away.
Garda David Kerrigan was called to attend Cavan General Hospital by staff due to a man being psychotic. When gardaí approached Shannon he became extremely agitated and aggressive.
Pepper spray was used by gardaí on Shannon, but it had little effect on him. Shannon then struck Dt Gda Kerrigan on the right side of his face with his bloody hand and smeared his blood on him and spat at him. He told Dt Gda Kerrigan and Garda Crawford that he would kill them.
The two gardaí called for assistance as Shannon continued raving and shouting abuse. Sgt John Nolan arrived on the scene in a patrol van.
Shannon was eventually brought under control by gardaí and was taken to the Emergency Section at the hospital. After being treated, gardaí took him into the patrol van where he lunged at Sgt Nolan who fell back and heard a crack from his hand.
An x-ray showed that he suffered a bone fracture in his left hand. He subsequently had to strap his left little finger to his ring finger.
CCTV footage from outside the hospital was then showed to court.
Gda Crawford outlined that the defendant kept lunging at gardaí when they approached him, and he had to be pepper sprayed several times. Shannon also placed cones on the entrance road into the hospital.
Shannon was taken to Blanchardstown Hospital for his injury where he was subsequently arrested by Gda Crawford.
The court heard that the Sloweys’ motor insurance company paid out €13,000 for the damage caused. The defendant was estimated to have caused €5,899 worth of damage to their house and belongings.
The court heard that Shannon was remanded in custody on September 20 and that he had no previous convictions in Ireland and no previous felonies in the U.S.
Gda Crawford said that Shannon was suffering from significant mental health issues and was not taking his medication at the time.
When interviewed by gardaí, Shannon said that he would be able to compensate the couple if he got back to America.
Gda Crawford confirmed when asked by Ms Murtagh Quinn that Shannon suffered a very severe gash to his right hand, and that he waived his right to a solicitor during the interview.
The prosecuting garda also confirmed that Shannon put the cones out on the road to stop people going into what he believed to be a “bad hospital”.
Ms Slowey came to the witness box to read her victim impact statement.
She said that their house was their sanctuary but ever since September 16, their sense of safety has been “completely shattered”.
Ms Slowey told the court that she “would always remember her two children looking up at me with pure dread asking does he want to hurt Daddy?”.
After the incident, her two children could not sleep in their own rooms and had to sleep with her and her husband.
She concluded that she and her family desperately need reassurances that Shannon be as kept far away from their home.
Ms Murtagh Quinn told Judge Aylmer that her client’s psychotic report was quite lengthy. She added that Shannon had gone through a tumultuous period where he lost his job as an engineer, lost his fiancée and his psychiatrist passed away in 2022.
Ms Murtagh Quinn said that Shannon’s family was residing in the United States and that he would be able to compensate for the damage he caused when he returns home. She added that Shannon was very remorseful for his actions and that he was going through a manic episode at the time as he was off his medication.
For the damage caused to the Sloweys’ home, Judge Aylmer put it at the upper end of the mid-range and gave it a headline sentence of seven years. For the assault on Sgt Nolan, Judge Aylmer put the headline sentence at two years imprisonment. He said that any assault on a member of An Garda Síochana carrying out their duty was a very serious matter.
In mitigation, Judge Aylmer noted that Shannon co-operated during the interview, and accepted that he was remorseful for his actions. He also noted that the defendant was very unwell at the time due to his use of cannabis and alcohol.
Judge Aylmer remarked that Shannon had no previous convictions which was very significant given his age. He added that the defendant pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and that he spent the past nine months in custody.
Judge Aylmer said that he can fully appreciate the terror that Ms Slowey and her children experienced during the incident.
After taking account the mitigation, Judge Aylmer reduced Shannon’s first sentence to four and a half years and his second sentence to 16 months.
Due to Shannon having a clean history, that he was suffering from a psychotic episode and that he spent the last nine months in custody, Judge Aylmer suspended the entirety of the two sentences.
This was on condition that Shannon kept the peace and be of good behaviour for four years and abstain from alcohol and cannabis.
Other conditions were that he would stay away from Co. Cavan and that he would leave the jurisdiction within 21 days of his release from prison the following day. The final condition was that Shannon would continue to take his medication.
Judge Aylmer said that he hoped that Shannon not being allowed to enter Co. Cavan would be of some solace to the victims. He took the other charges into consideration.
Article funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.