Cork machete murder: Gardaí send file to DPP on man killed in front of wife and children
in
Cork
have forwarded a file to the DPP on the murder of a father (35) of two who was killed in a machete attack in front of his wife and young children at their home in Ballincollig almost seven years ago.
Polish national Mikolaj Wilk, who was known as Nick and worked as a landscape gardener, was attacked by up to five masked men armed with machetes when they burst into his home, the Bridge House, at Maglin near Ballincollig at around 3am on June 10th, 2018.
Mr Wilk was repeatedly hacked in front of his wife, Elzbieta, who sustained serious slash injuries to her face, neck and her hands as she sought to protect her husband from his attackers, and she underwent surgery to try to save a number of fingers.
The couple's two children, who were both under six years of age at the time, were uninjured in the incident, which gardaí described as one of the worst they had encountered in Cork.
READ MORE
A woman in her 30s who was renting a room from the Wilks, managed to flee through a window at the rear of the house and ran to a nearby house to raise the alarm. Gardaí responded, arriving to the scene where they found Mr Wilk in a critical condition.
Gardaí and HSE paramedics, who arrived soon after, worked to stabilise Mr Wilk's condition before he was taken by ambulance to Cork University Hospital, where despite extensive injuries, he survived for two hours before dying.
Now almost seven years after what gardaí described as 'a complex investigation with an international aspect', which involved examining more than 1,000 hours of CCTV footage and detailed analysis of phone records, detectives have forwarded a file running to over 3,000 pages to the DPP.
The file also includes memos of interviews with six suspects, all in their 30s – two Poles and a Latvian, who were arrested at addresses in Ballincollig and Togher in January 2019; a Latvian who was arrested in Blackpool; and an Irish man and woman who were arrested in Mayfield in April 2019.
All six were arrested and brought to various Garda stations around Cork City including Togher, Gurranebraher and the Bridewell where they were all detained under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act and questioned at length before they were all released without charge.
The file also includes the results of a postmortem by Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margot Bolster that found Mr Wilk died from shock and haemorrhage due to multiple blows from sharp weapons in association with a traumatic brain injury.
Mr Wilk's inquest first opened before Cork City Coroner Philip Comyn in November 2018 when medical evidence on the cause of Mr Wilk's death was heard, but gardaí have successfully sought a number of adjournments since then to allow for the criminal investigation to proceed.
Gardaí have remained tight-lipped about their investigation over the past six years and 11 months, but it is understood their focus has been on an Eastern European criminal gang whom they believed carried out the attack with logistics support from people in Cork.
Investigators have kept Mr Wilk's widow, Elzbieta, informed of the latest developments – she returned to Poland with her children later in June 2018, settling down in her home village some 60km from Poznan where she and Mr Wilk were childhood sweethearts.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
‘Honest belief' of consent raised in pair's appeals against convictions for rape of vulnerable teenager
Two of three men jailed for the gang rape of a vulnerable teenager who had recently left State care have launched appeals against their convictions, arguing issues of consent were relevant during their trial. At the Court of Appeal on Thursday, counsel for Dion Genockey (26) argued the trial judge should have advised the jury his client may have had reasons for not mentioning to gardaí that he believed the victim had given her consent. On behalf of Daryl Rooney (27), it was argued he was not aware the woman had not given her consent. Genockey, of Clarion Quay Apartments, and Rooney, of Railway Street, Dublin city centre, were convicted of raping the woman at Bull Island, Dollymount, Dublin, on January 5th, 2016. READ MORE The convictions came in 2022 following a second trial at the Central Criminal Court. The jury in the first trial, held in 2020, was unable to reach a verdict. Genockey was sentenced to nine years in prison, while Rooney was sentenced to 10 years. A third accused, Troy Ryan, of Lower Gardiner Street, Dublin city centre, was also convicted and sentenced to 9½ years. The sentencing court heard the men maintain their innocence and do not accept the jury's verdict. Genockey's senior counsel, Thomas O'Malley, said his client had given evidence at the trial that the complainant had consented, but he had not mentioned this in interviews with gardaí. Mr O'Malleysaid Genockey was advised by his father not to mention anything to gardaí, which in this case turned out to be his defence. Counsel submitted that the trial judge ought to have told the jury they must consider the possibility that Genockey may have had reasons for not mentioning to gardaí that he believed the woman had consented. Senior counsel for Rooney, Dominic McGinn, said that, to achieve a rape conviction, the prosecution must prove the act, the absence of consent and that the accused knows there is an absence of consent. In this case, said counsel, the third aspect was lacking. Mr McGinn said the complainant said she was not interested in sexual activity, but when Rooney was alone with her in the car, she did not say anything. Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy said that while he was relying on the defence of 'honest belief' of consent, this belief must be founded in reality. 'Where is the counter evidence? The evidence was all going the one way, as she said she did not consent,' said Ms Justice Kennedy. Mr McGinn said the complainant had changed her mind about getting into the car with the men, which made Rooney 'alive to the fact she was a young woman who could change her mind'. 'By the time he got into the car, he knew two others had had sexual relations with her,' said Mr McGinn. He said that in her evidence, the complainant said she made it clear to the first two men that she was not consenting, but Rooney was not aware of that. On behalf of the State, senior counsel Eilis Brennan said the prosecution had argued that this was a very vulnerable woman addicted to tablets and was targeted by the men. They lured her away in a car, even though she told them she did not want to have sex, and took her to a remote location. Addressing Rooney's claim he did not know the woman did not consent, Ms Brennan said 'honest belief' of consent is subjective, but there must be some reality to it. She said there was ample evidence for the matter to go to a jury. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy, presiding over the three-judge court, said the court would deliver its judgment at a later date.
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
Call for suspects denied bail to be released from overcrowded prisons
The Irish prison system is overcrowded to the point that prisoners are not being afforded their 'basic human rights' and legislation is required to allow for the early release of more prisoners, the Irish Penal Reform Trust has said. The Irish Prison Service should, the trust argued, have the power to release remand prisoners who have been denied bail by the courts as part of an effort to ease overcrowding. Caron McCaffrey, director general of the service, has previously highlighted the growth in the remand prison population as a significant strain on an already overcrowded system. She noted that people on remand cannot be released by prison management as the courts have ruled they should remain in custody pending trial. READ MORE A report on the Irish prison system by the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Degrading Treatment (CPT), published this week, strongly criticised the level of overcrowding across the Irish prison system . Since the committee's visits to Ireland, which concluded in May of last year, the prison population has increased by more than 10 per cent to 5,539 prisoners. Responding to the report, Niamh McCormack, the trust's legal policy and public affairs manager, said overcrowding was 'pervasive' across Irish prisons and 'negatively impacting all aspects of prison life and posing safety concerns for both prisoners and staff alike'. Ms McCormack noted that early or temporary release had been used by prison management to control prisoner numbers. However, she said to make way for newly committed prisoners, the power to release others must be expanded. 'Reducing the population in pre-trial detention and expanding the availability and encouraging greater use of community-based sanctions, where those are appropriate, is a clear way to do this safely and effectively. Legislation to address these key issues must be prioritised,' she said. The Council of Europe's report on the Irish prison system recommended that when a jail has reached capacity, no more prisoners should admitted. It also found there had been an increase in allegations of abuse of inmates by prison staff, including an incident which left a prisoner with 'significant disabilities'. The report described severe overcrowding in some prisons, with some inmates having a living area of just 2.8 sq m. When the committee members concluded their visits to Irish jails in May of last year, the prison population was 4,950, with 541 prisoners on temporary release. 944 prisoners in the system were on remand awaiting trial, up from 696 in the five years since its last inspection.
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
Landmark ruling against RTÉ as tribunal finds Fair City photographer was not a freelancer
RTÉ has failed to have employment rights claims by the former on-set photographer for Fair City thrown out, after the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) ruled, for the first time, that a supposed freelancer at the national broadcaster was actually an employee. The statutory complaints were brought by photographer, Beta Bajgart, who was previously the subject of commentary at the Public Accounts Committee when it emerged the national broadcaster was paying €60,000 per year for promotional images of the Dublin-based soap opera. Ms Bajgart's case against Raidió Teilifís Éireann under the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003, the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 and the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 will now proceed to a full hearing, following a preliminary ruling on Thursday. It is the first WRC case where the principles of a major Supreme Court ruling in 2023 on the distinction between employees and contractors have been applied to the position of a worker at RTÉ. READ MORE The alleged misclassification of media workers as freelance contractors by RTÉ is a major legacy issue at the national broadcaster. She claims her job as a photographer on the set of RTÉ's flagship soap opera was terminated without notice on December 15th 2023. The broadcaster's lawyers had argued Ms Bajgart was not an employee, but a freelance contractor – giving the employment tribunal 'no jurisdiction' her complaints Adjudication officer Catherine Byrne noted that Ms Bajgart suffered 'negative commentary' in September 2023 after attention was drawn to Ms Bajgart's role following a hearing of the Oireachtas Public Accounts committee, which had been scrutinising RTÉ's finances. In the wake of the publicity, Ms Bajgart's solicitors wrote to RTÉ asserting that she had acquired a contract of indefinite duration and was an employee, the tribunal noted. The broadcaster's director of human resources replied that RTÉ's relationship with the photographer was 'not an employment relationship' but that she was 'a supplier of services'. Ms Bajgart was first engaged for the work as an independent contractor for a year starting in June 2011 at €750 a week. There were repeated renewals of the contract and Ms Bajgart won tender competitions in 2017 and 2019, with the rate for the job rising to €980 a week over that period, the tribunal noted. However, Ms Bajgart did not apply when the work was put out to tender again in September 2023, and ultimately ceased working on the Fair City set on December 15th 2023, when the tender process was readvertised, the adjudicator noted. Ms Bajgart gave evidence that she was interviewed for the job in 2011 and 'got the contract', with 'no discussion about the legal implications'. She explained that she set the rate for the job based on her previous work for another production, Off the Rails. Addressing a gap in her contracts between October 14th 2018 and January 21st 2019, Ms Bajgart said she 'simply continued to work' and got paid. Her barrister, Michael O'Doherty BL, who appeared instructed by Conor McCrave of Setanta Solicitors, asked if she had 'consented to doing the job as an independent contractor. Ms Bajgart replied: 'I wanted the job,' and added that it was 'never offered' to her as a position of employment. Under cross-examination from RTÉ's solicitor, Louise O'Byrne of Arthur Cox, asked Ms Bajgart whether she had done other work while engaged for Fair City. Ms Bajgart said she ran her freelance business around the Fair City shot list and that it was difficult to look for clients because she never knew when she was due on set. Ms O'Byrne also referred to a letter sent by the complainant to the Irish Times and the Irish Independent in September 2023 following remarks by Fine Gael senator Micheál Carrigy about Ms Bajgart's, in which the complainant had stated: 'The photographer on RTÉ's Fair City is an independent contractor.' Ms O'Byrne argued this showed the claimant 'did not consider herself as an employee' of RTÉ. Mr O'Doherty said she had described herself as an independent contractor 'because she did not want to upset her employer and potentially lose her job by publicly describing herself as an employee'. Adjudication officer Catherine Byrne wrote that the 'day-to-day reality' of Ms Bajgart's working relationship with RTÉ was 'not consistent with how she was described in her contract as 'a supplier' and 'not an employee''. Byrne noted that Ms Bajgart had been working 20 hours a week, part-time, for 12 years on 'a series of fixed-term contracts' in a role which 'contributes to the promotion and success' of Fair City. The worker had had a desk on set, 'no discretion' about her level of attendance there, and could only work elsewhere three or four hours a week, and performed the work personally 95% of the time, Ms Byrne added. 'The authors of the agreements… may have genuinely believed that the working relationship with [Ms Bajgart] was that of an independent contractor, at least in the early years,' Ms Byrne wrote. 'However, it seems to me that the sustained nature of her job and the sole reliance by the respondent on the complainant to do the work, means that the legal basis of the agreement evolved from a supplier's agreement to that of an employee,' she added.
