By Dionne Meehan
THE girlfriend of a Lifford man who was left fighting for his life after a brutal attack in his home just over a month ago has renewed an appeal for information.
Charles Dooher (26) sustained catastrophic injuries following the attack by five heavily armed and masked men on January 20.
Mr Dooher was airlifted to Belfast Victoria Hospital in the wake of the violent assault, where he remains in a critical condition. His father, Charles snr was also injured in the attack.
In a statement issued by Madden & Finucane Solicitors on Friday, the Dooher family criticised An Garda Síochána’s involvement in the case.
They hit out at gardaí for not deeming the case to be one of attempted murder, instead claiming they minimised the case to aggravated burglary and serious assault.
They also believe the incident stemmed from the gardaí’s failure to police and prosecute members of a local family, who, they say, harassed them in a sustained vendetta for over a decade.
Charlotte Gallen, Mr. Dooher’s partner, stated that he has faced multiple threats to his life from the family in question, yet the authorities have repeatedly ignored them.
“Now that my boyfriend, who is also a son, a brother, a godfather and a friend, has been left on life support for four weeks, has a severe traumatic brain injury and only has a small portion of his skull remaining, An Garda Síochána have decided to get up and do something,” she said.
“For the first three weeks his local authorities were investigating Charlie’s attempted murder as an aggravated burglary.”
Ms Gallen said five masked men armed with steel bars entered Mr Dooher’s bedroom and beat him on the back of the head, causing his skull to shatter and his brain to swell and bleed.
“Top neurosurgeons couldn’t save it,” she said.
“The men left with nothing but his blood on their hands.
“Anyone from the local area knows who is responsible.
“The silence from this particular family speaks volumes.”
Meanwhile, Ms Gallen is pleading with the public to come forward, with any information that they may have, to the authorities.
“Anyone with any information is asked to contact PSNI 101 or Letterkenny Garda Station on 074 9167100, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station,” she said.
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