Former Clare hurler Niall Gilligan ‘whacked' boy (12) with stick, jury hears

Irish Times

4 days ago

Former All-Star and Clare All-Ireland winning hurler Niall Gilligan 'whacked' a boy (12) on the leg with a stick during an alleged assault in 2023, a jury was told on Wednesday.
Counsel for the State Sarah-Jane Comerford (BL) laid out the case against Mr Gilligan (48), of Rossroe, Kilmurry, Sixmilebridge, Co Clare, in her opening speech to the jury at Ennis Circuit Court.
Mr Gilligan denies the charge of assault causing harm of the boy.
Ms Comerford said on October 5th, 2023, a then 12-year-old and his then 13-year-old friend went into the Jamaica Inn hostel in Sixmilebridge. She said the two believed the property was abandoned.
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'They were exploring the building when the accused, Niall Gilligan, who owned the property at the time, arrived to check on it.'
Ms Comerford said the jury will hear the property was vandalised and broken into in the days leading up to October 5th.
They will be told the two boys were outside the property when they saw Mr Gilligan and ran. The 12-year-old will tell the jury 'he slipped in a puddle and the accused came up behind him and whacked him on the leg with a stick and the accused kept hitting him in the leg, his ribs, his hip, his elbow and his hand'.
Ms Comerford said medical evidence of the injuries sustained will be heard and the jury will see photos of bruising and cuts.
The boy will tell the jury that after the alleged assault Mr Gilligan grabbed him by the jacket and brought him out to the road and asked him his name and who his father was.
The boy will say 'he sat on a wall for a while because he has asthma and could barely breathe', Ms Comerford said.
The other boy (13) will say he ran at the same time and managed to get away. He will say he heard screaming from his friend.
Ms Comerford said the 13-year old met up with his friend after the incident 'and let him lean on him' while he tried to walk home.
Ms Comerford said the 12-year-old told the other boy to leave in case he was caught by the accused.
Ms Comerford said that the boy (12) made his way to the local GAA club and was given a lift home by a woman there who will give evidence in the case. He was later brought to hospital.
Ms Comerford said Mr Gilligan was subsequently arrested and gave an account of what he said happened and his interactions with the boy at the Jamaica Inn hostel, 'which he told gardaí were in self-defence'.
The trial continues before a jury of seven men and five women.