A MAN has been arrested in connection with the brutal assault of an Irish teenager last year.
Shanan McDaid, 18, was left with horrific facial injuries after an unprovoked attack in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal in the early hours October 14, 2017.
The university student was branded a "sl*t" and a "b**ch" by her assailant, and feared she would die after he punched her repeatedly in Market Square at around 3am.
Gardaí confirmed today that a man was arrested this week and subsequently released without charge.
A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Speaking to RTE's Today's Sean O'Rourke after the assault in October, Shanan said: "I thought I was going to die".
Shanan's face after the prolonged attack on October 14, 2017She added: "It was so sore and I didn't know if he was going to stop.
"I was lying on the ground thinking this could be it but thank God it didn't happen.
"My friends were literally around the side of the building where it happened. I was at one side and they were at the other.
"If I had called for my friends and boyfriend things would have turned out a lot worse for him."
After Shanan reached her friends, a good samaritan stopped in the street to drive them to hospital.
The young woman suffered numerous injuries in the attack, including a broken nose, chipped teeth and cuts to her head and face.
"I've never met the man before, I didn't speak to him," she said. "I don't know what his reason for it was."
The man was described at the time as being 5 feet 9 inches tall and aged 30-40 with light brown hair and a Donegal or Northern Irish accent.
