GAA star accused of assaulting boy, 12, says he was 'protecting himself'
At Ennis Circuit Court today, the jury heard that Mr Gilligan made a pre-prepared statement to Gardai at Shannon Garda Station on February 19th 2024 in response to the then allegation that he assaulted a 12 year old boy with a stick at the Jamaica Inn hostel on October 5th 2023.
On Friday, the jury was also told that the 12 year boy that Mr Gilligan is alleged to have assaulted sustained a fractured bone in his left hand. Medical reports from October 2023 show that the boy on examination also had a 2 cm wound to his right forearm, a 2 cm wound to his right shin, bruising to his right shoulder while medics also believed that the boy lost consciousness briefly earlier on October 5th 2023.
The boy's hand was placed in a splint and he was advised not to engage in contact sports for one month after its removal later on October 20th 2023. Photographs of the boy's injuries were also shown to the jury along with the muck-stained clothes that the boy was wearing on October 5th.
In evidence, the boy's father said that he first brought his son to a VHI clinic at Raheen, Limerick on the evening of October 5th 2023.
He said: 'Once they (medical staff) started cutting his clothes off him they were finding more and more injuries.'
He said: 'They found he had soiled himself which led them to believe that he was unconscious at some stage.'
He said that medics at the VHI Clinic made the decision that the boy should be transferred by ambulance to the A&E at University Hospital Limerick (UHL). The boy's father said that he didn't believe his son's initial story that he had fallen off his bike.
He said: 'I definitely didn't think that he fell off a bike. He was covered head to toe in muck.' The father said that his son 'had a swollen hand and he was limping. He was talking quite fast as well and he was pale so I imagine adrenaline and shock."
The father told the jury today that he got Niall Gilligan's phone number on the evening of October 5th after his son had told him what had occurred earlier where Mr Gilligan is accused of assaulting the boy with a stick. Niall Gilligan (file photo) (Image: ©INPHO/Donall Farmer)
Mr Gilligan (48) of Rossroe, Kilmurry, Sixmilebridge, denies the charge of assault causing harm with a stick at the Jamaica Inn hostel, Sixmilebridge on October 5th 2023.
In evidence, the father said that he phoned Mr Gilligan and said: 'I said I am currently in A&E with my son who you just viciously attacked.' The father said that Mr Gilligan did not respond to the allegation.
In his account of the phone call, in his prepared statement read out in court by Dec Garda Noel Carroll, Mr Gilligan said: 'He said that his son got hurt. I made no comment to that after his son and others had broken into my building and caused extensive damage, including lighting a fire, releasing my fire extinguishers, breaking windows, writing graffiti."
Mr Gilligan said that he decided there and then to take legal advice 'as soon as I could about this call and make a formal complaint to the Gardai about the damage and trespass'.
Mr Gilligan was formally arrested on suspicion of assault at Shannon Garda Station on February 19th 2024 and accompanied there by his solicitor, Daragh Hassett, Mr Gilligan denied any assault and said that on October 5th 2023 at the Jamaica Inn hostel: 'I acted in a reasonable manner to protect myself from injury and assault from a person or persons unknown to me in the conditions that prevailed.'
In the statement running to five pages, Mr Gilligan added: 'I acted in a reasonable manner to protect my property from destruction by fire and further damage.' He said: 'I didn't know who or what was coming at me that night."
'Something was coming at me, wasn't retreating or calling out to me so I had to defend myself as any reasonable person would. I feel sorry for the boy but the fact is that if he and others hadn't broken into my property, lit a fire, stole the keys and caused other damage, this incident would never have happened."
He said: 'Since this incident, there has been despicable commentary about me over what actually happened - none of which is true. I am glad that I have the opportunity to set the record straight."
On the incident with the boy at the Jamaica Inn, Mr Gilligan told Gardai that he realised on the evening of October 5th 2023 'that I wasn't alone in the building'.
He said: "I went back down slowly picking up a wooden stick I found on the ground. As I entered the hallway, I heard voices and then saw two people running away to my left towards the external door I had come in. I then heard footsteps fast coming behind me over my right shoulder. I felt I was going to be attacked so to protect myself I drew out with the stick on two occasions and then kicked out twice.
'I shouted at the person to get back as I did this. At that stage, I could see that I was dealing with a male youth. I grabbed him by his coat or jacket and brought him out of the building. We went around the back to see where the other two intruders had gone to. When we got around the back we got entangled in the dark and fell on top of each other on a slippery path under the pine trees."
Mr Gilligan said that he told the youth 'never to again enter my property". He said: 'I proceeded to walk him out to the front gate. I asked him his name at this stage. He gave his name. He made no complaint of any injuries to me.'
He said: 'At that stage, I met Pat Donnellan who was parked outside. I told him that managing the property was a nightmare.' Mr Gilligan said that he had been "very concerned about fire and vandalism at the Jamaica Inn hostel'.
He said: 'Around this time there were rumours in Sixmilebridge that I was going to lease the building as accommodation for asylum seekers." Mr Gilligan added: 'There was resistance locally to this and there was no truth in that rumour as I had never been approached but I was concerned about an arson at the property especially after a fire had been lit and fire extinguishers were discharged.'
Mr Gilligan said that as he had every concern that the building would be burnt out, he said that rang the Gardai on October 4th just before lunchtime and the call rang out. He said: 'I called into Sixmilebridge Garda Station a few times that day but did not get to meet any Garda on duty." He said that he called to the Garda Station on the morning of October 5th 'but there was no one there'.
Mr Gilligan said that he purchased the Jamaica Inn hostel in 2022 and sold it on in late 2023 to a company in Shannon who required accommodation for staff.
At the conclusion of the evidence on Friday, Judge Francis Comerford told the jury that they had heard a lot of evidence today.
He cautioned: 'Don't come to any firm conclusions in your own minds until you have heard all the evidence, the speeches by the lawyers and the charge from me.'
The trial continues before a jury of seven men and five women on Monday.
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'There is an un-displaced fracture of a finger – that is not a good thing to happen but that it is what happened' He said: 'There were injuries and there were sustained in the incident but by and large, most were cleared up in the week and the last one was pretty well cleared up in two weeks.' Mr Whyms said that the injuries 'don't look nice on the photographs – there is no getting away from that and injuries that are photographed immediately after don't look nice'. Earlier in her closing speech Ms Comerford (instructed by State Solicitor for Clare, Aisling Casey) told the jury: 'This is a story of a man who lost his cool.' She said: 'Instead of picking up the boy after he slipped and bringing him out to his car and driving him home and telling his parents, he hit him and lost it and he was angry and frustrated.' Ms Comerford said that the alleged assault in broad daylight 'is the action of a man who took out his anger and frustration on a child. There is no evidence that his injuries were caused by anything other than his interactions with Niall Gilligan.' Advertisement Ms Comerford said that Niall Gilligan 'lost control and punished the boy for the damage and inconvenience caused to his property on a morning when he had to clean up human faeces and urine from his property'. Ms Comerford said that the evidence of the then 12 year old boy and his friend 'is credible and can be relied upon to the high standard beyond reasonable doubt'. Ms Comerford said that the then 12 year old 'of course he knew that it not okay to explore a building without permission, to let off fire extinguishers, to remove keys so he would have access to the building again, but he was a 12 year old child and he was exploring and knew that others had been there before'. Ms Comerford said that the boy 'thought Niall Gilligan would threaten him with a stick. He didn't think he was actually going to hit him, but he did and he kept hitting him'. She told the jury: 'I would suggest to you that the boy was shocked and in disbelief that this could happen – that a grown man would hit a child and not once and not a clip around the ear and a kick up the backside followed by a drive home to tell his parents to say what the child had been up to'. Ms Comerford said that the boy knew that Mr Gilligan 'was a big strong man who he never thought would viciously assault him'. She said: 'You will recall him saying 'he was so big and I was so little' and Mr Gilligan was so big and the boy was so little.' Highlighting the medical evidence, Ms Comerford said that the first medical report stated 'Head injury, loss of consciousness, bowel incontinence, right shoulder injury query, right posterior elbow wound? left hand and wrist injury, left tibia wound exposure and maybe fracture'. She said: 'In the later reports, there is a reference to an X-ray to his tibia and fibula which was suggestive of a non-displaced fracture and ultimately it doesn't appear that this was a fracture.' Ms Comerford said that 'it is understandable when you look at the photos why there may have been a query on fractures when you look at the level of bruising sustained by the body of the boy' She said that the boy slipped outside the Jamaica Inn and was lying on his stomach 'and you can see clearly the marks on both buttocks, the wrist injury, the shoulder bruising, the arm injury and the bruising around the ribs and the gash to his shin bone when he was hit over and over again'. She said: 'He lost consciousness for a while. He must have been hit multiple times in order to have sustained as many injuries as he did in the various locations you can see in the photos taken on the night and following day.' 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He beat him there and he knew it. He lost control, he was angry and frustrated and he needed to cover all angles and that is why he said that to the Gardai.' Ms Comerford told the jury that they should give greater weight to the evidence of the 12 year old boy and his friend who allowed themselves to be subject to cross examination from Mr Whyms on their evidence and 'withstood the cross examination'. Ms Comerford said that due to the level of force used by Mr Gilligan in the assault, the defence of self-defence should not be available to him. At the conclusion of the closing speeches Judge Francis Comerford commenced his charge to the jury. Judge Comerford said that he will continue his charge to the jury on Tuesday. When Judge Comerford completes his charge, the jury will then commence their deliberations.
