he sister of a popular young Donegal man viciously attacked in his home last month has said his head injuries are ‘one of the absolute worst’ surgeons have come across.
Deborah Dooher was speaking to UTV Live this week about her sibling, Charles (26), who was beaten by five masked men armed with iron batons at his home on the Coneyburrow Road in Lifford on Monday, January 20th.
He was airlifted to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast where he remains fighting for his life with catastrophic head injuries.
His sister Deborah described the attack as ‘vicious’ and ‘brutal,’ telling UTV that what happened to her brother was “no ordinary beating or burglary”.
She also believes dissident republicans from the North are among those involved in the attack, an angle reported by Derry Daily earlier this month.
Two men were arrested in Derry over the attack but were later released without charge.
“The surgeons have described the injuries that have happened to my brother as though he got a porcelain plate and smashed it on the ground to smithereens – that’s the force with which they hit my brother’s skull,” she said.
“They didn’t just actually take my brother’s skull from him, they actually beat parts of my brother’s skull, pierced them into his own brain.
“It’s one of the absolute worst on the highest scale of the top 10 injuries that the surgeons in the hospital have ever seen.”
She added she has ‘no doubt’ the gang’s intention was to kill her brother.
Deborah Dooher. Credit: UTV Live.
Deborah is appealing for information to bring those responsible to justice and believes that her brother is still under threat, despite his medical condition.
While the family appeal for information, they are critical on how Gardaí have dealt with numerous issues over recent years, along with their current investigation into the attack against Charles.
Anybody who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) from the Coneyburrow Road, Lifford, between 10am and 11am on January 20 is asked to make this footage available to investigating Gardaí.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Letterkenny Garda Station on 074 9167100, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.
Read the full transcript, and watch, Deobarh’s interview with Gareth Wilkinson on UTV Live here: https://www.itv.com/news/utv/2025-02-25/mans-skull-smashed-to-smithereens-says-family-blaming-dissidents?fbclid=IwY2xjawIsHG5leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHaFLLCDbQSddFDfGBpgycJT4nskCpnmmwYSCeucXYzRUvqFZLgwqYpCd8Q_aem_UgX9moHvNKZEalx_ficPZw
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