Former Clare hurler Niall Gilligan found not guilty of assaulting 12-year-old boy
At Ennis Circuit Court today, the jury delivered a majority not guilty verdict that Mr Gilligan of Rossroe, Kilmurry, Sixmilebridge had assaulted causing harm of the boy at the Jamaica Inn Hostel, Sixmilebridge on 5 October 2023.
Advertisement
Mr Gilligan sat impassive in the court as the court registrar read out the not guilty verdicts in the case concerning the assault causing harm charge and use of a stick.
In his closing speech to the jury on Monday, counsel for Gilligan, Patrick Whyms BL said in no way is Mr Gilligan trying to suggest that he was entitled to punish the boy as was suggested and said that the injuries sustained by the boy 'are clearly regrettable'.
Whyms said that on the evening at the Jamaica Inn hostel, Mr Gilligan 'didn't know that he was dealing with a child and did not create this situation'.
Whyms said that Mr Gilligan 'was at the end of his tether' by the vandalism being done to a vacant property he was trying to sell.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated
Written by Gordon Deegan and posted on TheJournal.ie
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
Hundreds gather in Tallaght for antiracism protest after assault on Indian man
Hundreds of people attended a public antiracism gathering in Tallaght called to protest an assault on an Indian national in the area last weekend. The crowd, which included many members of Dublin 's Indian community, heard the man, the father of an infant child who had just arrived in Ireland to take up a tech role with Amazon, was on the way to a religious service when he was set upon, beaten, stabbed, stripped and robbed by a group of youths. Jennifer Murray, a local woman who had intervened to help the victim told the crowd 'the attackers and people on social media rapidly spread a lie that this man had committed a crime of a sexual nature at the local playground. [ Man violently assaulted and partially stripped by gang in Tallaght Opens in new window ] 'No such thing [happened]. This is a complete fabrication to justify the beating, stabbing and stripping of an innocent man. The only crime here committed was by our own, by a gang of Irish teenagers. READ MORE 'But this is not who the people of Kilnamanagh are. This is not who the people of Tallaght are. So it is time for change. There's been a lot of negative people shouting very loudly lately, and it is time to turn our silence into action.' Jennifer Murray, who came to the aid of the Indian man attacked in Tallaght, meets other attendees at the protest. Photograph: Dan Dennison The innocent man who had been attacked, she said, 'has shown such dignity, such bravery and such humility in the aftermath of this awful ordeal, his wishes are just that this never happens to anyone ever again. But I say this never should have happened to him'. The crowd, which included TDs Louise O'Reilly of Sinn Féin and Ruth Coppinger of Solidarity-People Before Profit, as well as former TD Bríd Smith and a number of other local representatives, also heard from Shashank Chakerwarti, an activist and candidate in last year's local elections who was born in India but moved to Ireland with his family at the age of 12. 'Like many others,' he said, 'I don't claim to be Irish by birth but by belonging.' The Indian community and other migrants were not, he said, 'guests but fellow citizens' determined to contribute to 'making Ireland a fairer society'. A mother and daughter attend the protest in Tallaght Sarah Holland of Dublin South West Together said decent people had been appalled by what had happened last weekend and said those who claimed to be patriots in the spirit of those who led the Rising were misguided. 'The 1916 leaders wanted a Republic that cherished all its citizens because we are all equal,' she said. The crowd was addressed by a number of speakers, including politicians and community figures. Photograph: Dan Dennison The meeting, which took place outside the Rua Red arts centre close to the Square shopping centre, was flanked by a significant Garda presence amid rumours beforehand that a counter protest by members of the far right might spark violence. In the event, around a dozen people protested close by with a handful holding up placards bearing photographs of Ashling Murphy and the man who murdered her, Jozef Puska. The event ended without any disorder.
Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
Woman tortured over false drug accusation will never forgive ‘sick' men who attacked her
A woman who was tortured and falsely imprisoned in a Dublin flat over a false accusation about missing drugs has told a court she will never forgive the 'sick human beings' for what they did to her. During a three-hour period in September last year, in which she was put through 'unimaginable trauma', the woman was beaten around the head and body with metal poles. She was burned with a makeshift blow torch and a heated hammer head, cut with a knife, kicked and punched, had her hair cut off and was threatened with rape, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard. The men took running jumps at her during the assault in a one-bedroom flat at Henrietta House, Dublin 7 , threatened to make her drink ammonia and also threatened to rape her teenage daughter. She was terrified throughout and thought she was going to die, Caroline Cummings BL, prosecuting, told the sentence hearing on Friday. READ MORE The assault ended only when gardaí entered the flat with a search warrant, the court heard. All of the men, who have between one and 124 previous convictions, were on bail at the time of the offence. In text messages read out in court, one of the men boasted to a friend during the incident that they had a 'hostage' and had 'cut her up', to which this unidentified man replied: 'quality'. Phone video footage taken inside the flat that day was also played in court, which showed the woman bloodied and distressed and a hammer being heated up on a hob. The woman was left with a broken eye socket, broken cheekbone, broken nasal bone, broken elbow, burns, dislocated teeth, bruising and lacerations across her head and scalp, among other injuries. She required skin grafts, staples to her scalp, and later had surgery to remove a disc in her back, the court heard. She spent three weeks in hospital in the immediate aftermath of the assault. Five of the eight men present that day entered guilty pleas, while another man and a juvenile are still before the courts. The eighth person is not before the courts. Mark Keogh (33), Mark McMahon (55) and Braxton Rice (21), all of Henrietta House, Henrietta Place, Dublin 7, along with Sean Conroy (21) of Sillogue Road, Ballymun and Kian Walshe (22) of Constitution Hill, Dublin 7, all pleaded guilty to false imprisonment and assault causing harm to the woman at Henrietta House on September 26th, 2024. [ Man jailed for role in murder of David Douglas in Dublin shoe shop appeals conviction Opens in new window ] A number of other counts against each man relating to the production of articles in the course of an offence were taken into consideration. In her victim impact statement, which was read out by the investigating officer, the 38-year-old woman said she was 'petrified' in the flat. 'If police didn't come in through that door that day, I was sure I was dead,' she said, describing the men as 'animals'. 'I was beaten, stabbed and burnt – tortured to confess to something I knew nothing about,' she said. 'The smell of my skin burning, I will never get that smell out of my mind again,' she said, adding that she was 'completely helpless' and outnumbered by the eight men. 'I never knew humanity could be so cruel,' she said. Det Garda Peter Guyett told the court that at the time of the incident, the woman and her then partner were staying with one of the men whose case is still before the court. While there, the woman became aware this man was holding drugs in his house. [ Kinahan crime boss ordered to pay back £1 million or face more jail time Opens in new window ] On the day in question, this man and another person approached the woman in the house and told her: 'Come on, we've to go,' before she was put into an Audi containing two other men and driven to Henrietta House. There were eight men in the flat, and a 'baby-faced' man – who later emerged to be Rice – started interrogating her about a €90,000 batch of cocaine that had gone missing from the home she was staying in. An older man, later identified as McMahon, whose flat it was, held a hatchet up to her face while his son Keogh, referred to in court as 'Sparky', hit her across the head with a pole. Conroy kicked her face. 'Every person there hit her,' Ms Cummings said. 'Not one of them didn't get involved.' They cut her hair, which the woman later described as 'the ultimate humiliation'. The man whose house she was staying in was told by the others to get involved, and he cut her legs with some sort of blade. They used an aerosol can and a lighter as a makeshift blowtorch to burn her. The woman thought the incident lasted for an hour-and-a-half, but CCTV footage showed she was in the flat for three hours before gardaí entered, the court heard. The woman was present in court for the sentence hearing; in the afternoon, Ms Cummings informed Judge Pauline Codd that it was suspected that someone in court had been recording her. A device had been seized, the court heard. Judge Codd thanked the woman for attending court. 'She has been through unimaginable trauma,' she said. The court heard McMahon has 27 previous convictions, including drug dealing and possession, burglary, robbery and malicious damage. Keogh has 124 previous convictions, including drug dealing and possession, possession of knives, assault causing harm and escaping custody. Conroy has 89 previous convictions, including drug dealing and possession, burglary and possession of knives. Rice has 12 previous convictions, including drug dealing and possession. Walshe has one previous conviction. The maximum sentences for false imprisonment and assault causing harm are life and 10 years respectively. Judge Codd adjourned the case to next Wednesday, when defence counsel will give their pleas of mitigation.
Irish Times
6 hours ago
- Irish Times
Dublin city's first static speed camera introduced in Dolphin's Barn
Dublin city's first static speed camera will commence operation in Dolphin's Barn from next Friday, said Gardaí. Vehicles detected driving in excess of the posted speed limit will be subject to prosecution from midday on August 1st. 'Prosecution of speeding offences takes place by Fixed Charge Notice (FCN),' Gardaí said. The current FCN is a €160 fine accompanied by three penalty points. Dolphin's Barn was identified as part of a wider national analysis as a road which could benefit from the implementation of a safety camera. READ MORE 'The location was selected based on fatal and serious injury collision data from the last seven years and speed data, as well as feedback from stakeholders,' Gardaí said. The family of Brazilian carer Josilaine Ribeiro, who was killed at Dolphin's Barn bridge in November 2023 while cycling to visit a patient, had previously called for road safety improvements in Dublin. [ Garda revokes more than 900 speed camera fines on stretch of N25 due to 'human error' Opens in new window ] Speed surveys on Lower Crumlin Road and at the Bridge over the Grand Canal at Dolphin's Barn undertaken as part of the UCD WeCount Traffic Impact data project in the six months before Ms Ribeiro's death had found more than 100 cars an hour were breaking the speed limits. Dublin City Council (DCC) said it was 'pleased to see the introduction by An Garda Síochána of the first ever static speed camera within the Council area'. 'The Council worked closely with An Garda Síochána to facilitate the installation and initial operation of the camera. DCC said it will continue to work with An Garda Síochána 'on road safety and measures which can help to improve road safety for all'.
