Donegal Daily editor Stephen Maguire and reporter Chris McNulty go behind the headlines and delve inside the cases and crimes from the local courts across County Donegal
In episode six of Donegal Daily Crime and Courts, Bearing The Unbearable, Stephen and Chris look at the harrowing case of how a Donegal family of four became a family of one following a devastating crash.
On August 20, 2020, as Storm Ellen howled, Geraldine Mullan lost her beloved husband John Mullan (49) and the couple's children Tómas, 14, and Amelia, 6, after their car left the road, slid down an embankment at Quigley’s Point and entered Lough Foyle.
All three drowned, but Geraldine, who was a front seat passenger in the car being driven by her husband, managed to survive after she got out and stood on top of the car.
Roads company, Whitemountain Quarries Ltd, was fined €1.2million in Donegal Circuit Court having been indicted on two different counts in relation to the incident and pleading guilty.
In court, Ms Mullan bravely took to the witness stand amid highly emotional scenes to outline the devastating impact the incident has had on her.
22 Oct 2026
The TikTok burglar
In the fifth episode of Crime and Courts, Bribed Into Silence, we delve into the case of ‘TikTok burglar’ Timmy O’Gara.
At Donegal Circuit Court, O’Gara was jailed for three years after he broke into NINETEEN holiday homes in 2023 having watched a TikTok video. The total value of his destruction was not quantified, but around €30,000 damage was caused to one of the properties.
The court heard that O’Gara broke into the properties out of “boredom, curiosity and the influence of a peer group” and he received further prison sentences at subsequent sittings of Letterkenny District Court for offences including smashing a wheelhouse at Teelin Pier, stealing an ornamental stag’s head and stealing an outboard engine.
15 Oct 2026
Bribed Into Silence
In the fourth episode of Crime and Courts, Bribed Into Silence, we delve into the case of Martin Joseph ‘Joe’ Cullen.
The former Scout leader from Newtowncunningham was locked up for 11 years for a series of sexual offences against young boys in Donegal.
At Letterkenny Circuit Court, Judge Roderick Maguire said Cullen’s actions were “predatory, abusive and manipulative” and left a “tragic and utterly devastating” impact on his victims.
Cullen has been in custody at Midlands Prison since July 2025 when he was found guilty, following a five-day trial, of seven counts of sexual assault against five young boys over a 14-year-period between 1993 to 2007.
8 Oct 2026
Valentine's Day Horror
In the third episode of Crime & Courts, Valentine’s Day Horror, Stephen and Chris talk about notorious criminal Adeleke Adelani.
Earlier this year, Adelani was jailed for nine years at Letterkenny Circuit Court.
Adelani forced a woman to take five abortion tablets before locking her in the room of a Letterkenny house on Valentine’s Day in 2020.
He had also made violent threats to the woman during the terrifying ordeal, which he recorded on his phone.
30 Sept 2026
Pro Social: Confronting the Consequences
In Episode 2 of Donegal Daily Crime and Courts, Pro Social: Confronting the Consequences, Chris visits the headquarters of the Pro Social Driving Course and speaks to programme manager and former Detective Sergeant Michael Galvin.
ProSocial isn’t about learning how to drive, but about confronting behaviour, responsibility and the consequences of decisions made behind the wheel.
Michael talks about the people referred to the programme, the impact of fatal collisions, the rise in drug-driving and his own experience of losing his youngest brother in a road traffic collision.
He also explains the innovative Garage Programme, aimed at young people before they get behind the wheel.
25 Sept 2026
Hidden In Plain Sight
In our first episode, Hidden In Plain Sight, we look at the case of Neil Ferry - the Falcarragh predator who was jailed for 12 years after subjecting nine young victims to dozens of crimes over a 17-year period.
Ferry, a 69-year-old of Ballyness, Falcarragh, was given a cumulative 15-year prison sentence with the final three years suspended after being found guilty on 34 charges by a jury after an 11-day trial at Letterkenny Circuit Court.
The jury found Ferry unanimously guilty on 18 counts of sexual assault, 10 of indecent assault, five of attempted indecent assault and one of an attempted sexual assault.
Ferry was handed an effective life sentence after what Judge John Aylmer described as “sustained and systematic” offending over almost two decades.
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