Ex soldier used van as weapon

Thug who struck man with vehicle and assaulted partner is jailed

- BY NICOLA DONNELLY

A FORMER member of the Defence Forces who “used his vehicle as a weapon" and drove at another male has been jailed.

Derek Donegan, 39, left his victim in fear that he was about to be killed in the horror incident that happened in north Louth in April 2021.

At Dundalk Circuit Court, the ex-corporal pleaded guilty to endangerment on April 25, 2021 and was handed a two-and-a half year sentence.

Judge Dara Hayes ordered him to serve an an identical term after he admitted assaulting his partner causing her harm at a friend's house in Dublin in July last year.

The court heard Donegan, of Hyde Park in Dundalk, Co Louth, who has 14 previous road traffic convictions, had an alcohol and cocaine problem.