{"id":439719,"date":"2026-05-09T03:30:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T03:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/439719\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T03:30:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T03:30:14","slug":"man-admits-setting-van-alight-in-west-donegal-incident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/439719\/","title":{"rendered":"Man admits setting van alight in West Donegal incident"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A west Donegal man charged with setting a van alight in Loughanure has entered a signed guilty plea.<\/p>\n<p>Damien McGeehan from Annagry was brought before Letterkenny District Court and will now go forward to the Circuit Court for sentencing.<\/p>\n<p>The 34-year old was brought to court from Castlerea Prison, where he is on remand, by prison officers.<\/p>\n<p>McGeehan is charged with three counts of criminal damage relating to an incident at An Tardan Rua, Loughanure, on October 10, 2025.<\/p>\n<p>He is charged with causing criminal damage to a white Ford Transit van and a white Audi A6. He is also charged with causing criminal damage to the wing mirror of another Ford Transit van.<\/p>\n<p>The charges are contrary to section 2 (1) of the Criminal Damage Act, 1991.<\/p>\n<p>Garda Inspector Pat McCann confirmed that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has consented for the accused to be sent forward to Letterkenny Circuit Court.<\/p>\n<p>McGeehan was asked if he understood the nature of the charges and he replied: \u201cYes, Judge\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-sans font-semibold text-xl md:text-[30px] leading-9 text-primary w-full\">\n        You may also be interested in\n    <\/p>\n<p>            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.donegaldaily.com\/news\/so-last-year-gardai-catch-driver-with-bogus-certificate-633202\" class=\"block w-2\/5 shrink-0\" aria-label=\"So last year! Gardai catch driver with bogus certificate\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>        <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/so-last-year-gardai-catch-driver-with-bogus-certificate.jpg\" class=\"max-w-full w-full h-full object-contain relative z-10\" width=\"150\" height=\"84\"  alt=\"So last year! Gardai catch driver with bogus certificate\" \/><\/p>\n<p>            <\/a><\/p>\n<p>            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.donegaldaily.com\/sport\/late-late-winner-snatches-the-points-for-harps-against-kerry-633198\" class=\"block w-2\/5 shrink-0\" aria-label=\"Late, late winner snatches the points for Harps against Kerry\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>        <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/late-late-winner-snatches-the-points-for-harps-against-kerry.jpeg\" class=\"max-w-full w-full h-full object-contain relative z-10\" width=\"150\" height=\"84\"  alt=\"Late, late winner snatches the points for Harps against Kerry\" \/><\/p>\n<p>            <\/a><\/p>\n<p>When asked if he understood that he was to be sent to the Circuit Court for sentencing, he said: \u201cI understand, Judge\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Emile Daly, noting the DPP\u2019s consent, made an order returning McGeehan to the Circuit Court for sentencing.<\/p>\n<p>The alibi warning was administered and a section 56 order, relating to interviews, was made.<\/p>\n<p>McGeehan\u2019s solicitor, Mr Frank Dorrian, told the court that bail was previously refused and no application for bail would be made. A previous sitting of the court heard that McGeehan was refused bail in the High Court.<\/p>\n<p>Legal aid was granted to Mr Dorrian and two counsel were assigned in the case. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A west Donegal man charged with setting a van alight in Loughanure has entered a signed guilty plea.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":439720,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-439719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}