Former Clare hurler 'whacked' young boy with stick during alleged assault, trial hears

Gordon Deegan

A jury was told on Wednesday that former All-Ireland winning hurler Niall Gilligan “whacked” a 12-year-old boy on the leg with a stick during an alleged assault in October 2023.

At Ennis Circuit Court, prosecuting counsel Sarah Jane Comerford BL laid out the State case against Mr Gilligan (48) in her opening speech to the jury.

Former All-Star Clare hurler Mr Gilligan, of Rossroe, Kilmurry, Sixmilebridge, denies the charge of assault causing harm to the boy.

Ms Comerford said that 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 that the property was abandoned.

"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.

She said the jury will hear that the property was vandalised and broken into in the days leading up to October 5th.

Ms Comerford said the jury will be told that the two boys were outside the property when they saw Niall Gilligan.

She said that when they saw Mr Gilligan, the two boys ran and the 12-year-old will tell the jury that “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 the jury will hear medical evidence of the injuries sustained by the boy and see photos of bruising and cuts that the 12-year-old will tell them were caused by Mr Gilligan hitting him with a wooden stick.

The prosecuting barrister said the boy will tell the jury 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.

Ms Comerford said the boy will tell the jury “that he sat on a wall for a while because he has asthma and could barely breathe”.

There he met his 13-year-old friend again and that boy will say that he saw Mr Gilligan outside the Jamaica Inn and he ran at the same time as his friend and managed to get away.

Ms Comerford said the 13-year-old will say that he heard screaming from his friend “and he waited in an industrial estate beside the property and while he was relatively safe there, he was still very scared”.

A few minutes later, the 13-year old met up with his 12-year-old friend “and let him lean on him while his friend tried to walk home,” she told the court.

Ms Comerford said the 12-year-old told him to leave in case he was caught by the accused.

She said the 12-year-old made his way to the local GAA club and was given a lift home by a lady there who will give evidence in the case.

Ms Comerford said that once home the boy was brought to a local VHI clinic and was then brought to University Hospital Limerick where he was treated for his injuries and where gardaí were called.

The court was told that Mr Gilligan was later arrested by gardaí and gave an account of what he said happened on October 5th and his interactions with the 12-year-old boy at the Jamaica Inn hostel “which he told gardaí were in self defence and you will hear that in due course”.

Ms Comerford said Mr Gilligan denies assaulting the boy with a wooden stick and he has pleaded not guilty to the charge of assault causing harm.

Mr Gilligan is also pleading not guilty to producing a wooden stick capable of inflicting serious injury during the course of a dispute contrary to Section 11 of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act at the Jamaica Inn at Sixmilebridge on October 5th, 2023.

The trial continues before a jury of seven men and five women.