‘Neighbour from hell’ jailed over assault and threats to landlord

A man who terrorised neighbours in a Co Donegal housing estate has been jailed for 5½ years.

Carl Ryan was alleged to have caused havoc at Burwood, Buncrana for a number of years, playing loud music and leaving another resident requiring hospital treatment after punching him for complaining about it.

Ryan (54), a former heroin addict from Dublin, was found guilty at Letterkenny Circuit Court of assaulting Peter Deeney (67) and also admitted to demanding money with menaces from his landlord William Baldrick.

He was jailed for 3½ years for the assault and a further 2½ years for demanding the money. The sentences are to run consecutively as the second offence happened while Ryan was on bail over the assault charge.

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The court heard a recording of 12 minute telephone conversation between Ryan and Mr Baldrick in which he accused the landlord of “blackening” his name with Donegal County Council and leaving him unable to find another house. He then threatened to burn the house down if he was not given €1,000.

“I’m going to burn it down. I’m going to burn this house and your house. I hope you have that on tape. I’m f***ing genuine,” he said.

Ryan claimed he was acting in self-defence when he assaulted Mr Deeney on September 22nd, 2019.

Mr Deeney, who had lived on the estate for 20 years, said he was out for drinks in a pub and was collected just after 7pm. He noticed a lot of noise coming from Ryan’s house across the green and went over and knocked on the door.

He said Ryan came out of the house and attacked him, knocking him unconscious for a time. He was taken to hospital and treated for multiple facial injuries.

Under cross-examination by Ryan’s barrister, Peter Nolan, Mr Deeney denied starting the row. He asked Mr Deeney was it not the case that he was full of “Dutch courage” after having several drinks.

“I put it to you that you said to him ‘What are you doing here you Dublin scum bastards. I’ll burn you out and shoot you’.” Mr Deeney denied this.

Mr Nolan said any claims that his client was a “neighbour from hell” amounted to character assassination.

Passing sentence, Judge John Aylmer told Ryan “it’s only a matter of chance” that Mr Denney had survived such an assault.

“He has had a hard life albeit but much of that has been brought upon himself by drugs and alcohol,” the judge said of Ryan, adding that a probation report put him at a high risk of reoffending and noted a lack of victim empathy.