A rising young rugby star has been forced to quit the sport after being blinded in the eye with a stone in a late night attack.
Mel Harkin, 20, was a keen sportsman and played for City of Derry Rugby Club.
But in June, 2014, his world came crashing in when he was the victim of an unprovoked attack as he celebrated finishing his Leaving Cert exams.
Mel had been chatting with people he knew at McClay’s Corner in Stranorlar at around 1.30am on June 20th.
However when he turned to walk away he was struck in the left eye by a stone.
The stone attack caused him severe long-term damage to his left eye and he can only see fingers in front of his left eye if they are held up very close to him.
CCTV was viewed and Michael Dowd, then aged 16, came forward with his mother and admitted his part in the attack.
Dowd appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court after pleading guilty to a Section 4 assault and causing serious harm to Mel Harkin.
Dowd, now 18, told Gardai that he had known Mel and had been talking to him that night.
He admitted throwing a stone at another man but said it accidentally hit Mel.
Dowd said he asked if Mel was okay and he said he was grand and left the scene.
However, the victim was forced to spend four days in Dublin’s Adelaide Hospital after catastrophic damage to his eye.
He attended ophthalmologist Dr Martin Coyne who said Mel’s condition was irreversible and had only seen one other case like it in his 24 years in practice.
He added that the injuries would have life-long consequences for Mel and that his employment opportunities would be severely impacted.
In a victim impact statement read into court, Mel said he had been forced to quit sport and could not join the Defence Forces as had been his ambition.
His mother also gave evidence and said her son was now nervous but was trying his best to get on with life.
He was now working as a fitter with his father and was learning to drive but had to quit sport for fear he would damage his right eye and become blind altogether.
Judge John O’Hagan said the accused man’s probation report did not read well and it also suggested there was a high likelihood that he would reoffend.
He thanked Dowd’s sister Edel who had come into court to speak up on behalf of her younger brother.
She said he had become a changed man since he turned 18 and was trying not to drink anymore.
Judge O’Hagan thanked Ms Dowd for coming into court but he said he could not consider a suspended jail sentence.
He sentenced Dowd, of Donegal Road, Ballybofey to two years in prison but suspended the last year and ordered him to report to the probation services for that year.
He said jail was a serious place and that he would be stripped of his dignity but that he would be looked after.