A 30-year-old father-of-one who fired at handgun through the window of a house in Cork city last year and hit a young woman in the neck, causing her life-threatening injuries, has been jailed for 11 years.
Gavin Sheehan of Laurel Ridge, Shanakiel, Cork was sentenced to 14 years in jail with the final three years suspended for possession of a firearm with unlawful intent at Laurel Ridge, Shanakiel, Cork on May 15th, 2016.
Sheehan had been convicted of possession of a firearm as well as three other charges of possession of ammunition, reckless discharge of a firearm and assault causing serious harm to Ciara Sheehan (no relation) following a trial at Cork Circuit Criminal Court last November.
Today, Det Sgt Denis Lynch told the court how Gavin Sheehan had assaulted a young man, Dylan Cunningham, in a chip shop in Blackpool earlier that evening and that later that night, at about 12.30am on May 15th, windows were broken at Sheehan's family home at Laurel Ridge.
Felt buzzing in ear
Some time later, at about 1.30am, Ciara Sheehan, Dylan Cunningham’s girlfriend, was at the Cunningham family home at Hollywood Estate, Blarney Road when she heard a loud bang, felt a buzzing in her ear and realised she had been shot. She fell to the ground with a gunshot wound to the neck.
She was rushed by ambulance to Cork University Hospital where she underwent emergency surgery and had a bullet removed from her neck, where it had lodged in a muscle but had avoided rupturing any major blood vessels.
Det Sgt Lynch told how gardaí were responding to a call regarding the attack on Gavin Sheehan’s home and when they took possession of CCTV footage from cameras at Sheehan’s house, they found footage clearly showing him with a handgun leaving his house before the shooting.
Gardaí later recovered a Smith and Wesson handgun hidden near a wall dividing the Laurel Ridge Estate and Hollywood Estate, and also found a text message on a phone belonging to Sheehan in which he said he was “packing well”, which in local parlance meant he was armed with a gun.
Det Sgt Lynch said Sheehan had 72 previous convictions, of which 14 were for violent crime. These included seven for assaults, with three for assaults causing harm, and seven convictions for robbery.
Defence counsel Vincent Heneghan SC said he had been instructed by Sheehan to say he had been a Garda informant for several years in Cork up until 2015, giving information on drug dealers and other criminals, but Det Sgt Lynch said he was not in a position to comment on the claim.
Judge Sean O Donnabhain, who heard a victim impact statement from Ms Sheehan, said it was an extraordinary case in which the victim was extremely fortunate not to have died, as the bullet had only narrowly missed a major blood vessel and she had benefitted from expert emergency surgery.
He noted Sheehan’s criminality had been captured on CCTV from his own house when he put on “a peacock display” with the handgun, and he had not shown a shred of remorse for his victim since his conviction - and sending his victim a Christmas card from prison two months ago was “reprehensible”.
He noted a letter from Sheehan’s father, saying he was a supportive son to his parents, but he took the view that the offence was at the higher end of the scale and he sentenced him to 14 years in jail with the final three years suspended for the possession of the firearm for unlawful purpose.
He also sentenced him to 12 years with two years concurrent for assault causing serious harm to Ms Sheehan, as well as other shorter concurrent sentences for discharge of the firearm, possession of ammunition and two counts of criminal damage to which he had pleaded guilty.
Feared she would die
The shooting victim, Ms Sheehan (21), told Cork Circuit Criminal Court how she feared she was going to die when she realised she had been shot in the neck while visiting the family home of her boyfriend, Dylan Cunningham, in the night of May 14th/May 15th, 2016.
“The night that I got shot, all that was going through my head was that I was going to die. I was lying on the floor and they were all surrounding me, it was like something out of a movie. It’s an experience that I will never in my life forget,” she said in her victim impact statement.
“Since this happened to me, I am completely broken. I am a different person. I’m not the happy Ciara that I was this time last year. I have no confidence in myself any more. When I look in the mirror every morning, all I see is this big ugly scar on my neck.”
Ms Sheehan said she feels self-conscious when talking to people as she feels they are looking at the scar, and she also suffered anxiety attacks at work as well as flashbacks in her sleep when she relives the night of the shooting.
On anti-depressants
She told how she had to miss days at work because of appointments with a psychiatrist while she was also on anti-depressants but she suffered a setback early this year when Sheehan sent her a Christmas card from prison, where he was on remand for sentencing.
“Just into the New Year, I received a Christmas card from Gavin - that’s the last thing I wanted to see - that set me back a lot, and I couldn’t go to work that day because I was too upset - all I want to do is get back to the old me, the old Ciara - I’m sick of being depressed all the time.”
Ms Sheehan said that the side of her face is still numb from the shooting, which has also affected her relationship with her family and friends and she revealed that she is so paranoid at times that whenever she hears a loud bang, she gets a fright as she thinks it’s a gun.
“I heard a loud bang the other evening and it sounded like a gun. I instantly put my hand to my neck. I think no young girl should have to go through what I’ve been through. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy,” she revealed as she told how she now dreads standing by windows.
“I’m receiving counselling and I hope some time in the future that it might help because I am going through torture. My head feels like it’s going to explode sometimes.
“I am broken inside and inside my head,” she said, adding that she hoped Gavin Sheehan would “get the help he really needs”.
