*Niall Gilligan.
A JURY was told today (Wednesday) that former All-Star and Clare 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, counsel for the State, Sarah Jane Comerford (BL) laid out the State case against Mr Gilligan (48) of Rossroe, Kilmurry, Sixmilebridge in her opening speech to the jury.
Mr Gilligan denies the charge of assault causing harm of 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.
Ms Comerford said that the two believed that the property was abandoned.
She said, “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 that the jury will hear that the property was vandalised and broken into in the days leading up to October 5th.
Ms Comerford said that the jury will be told that the two boys were outside the property when they saw Niall Gilligan.
Ms Comerford 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 that 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 Niall Gilligan hitting him with a wooden stick.
Ms Comerford said that the boy will tell the jury after the alleged assault Niall 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 Niall Gilligan outside the Jamaica Inn and he ran at the same time as his friend and managed to get away
Ms Comerford said that 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”.
Ms Comerford said that 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”
Ms Comerford said that the 12 year old told him to leave in case he was caught by the accused.
Ms Comerford said that 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 (instructed by State Solicitor for Clare, Aisling Casey) 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 where called.
Ms Comerford said that Niall Gilligan was subsequently 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 that Niall 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.
In a video interview with specialist Garda interviewers played to the jury, the boy said that Niall Gilligan “just kept hitting me” outside the Jamaica Inn in Sixmilebridge on October 5th 2023.
In the interview carried out on November 11th 2023, the boy said that he went along to the abandoned Jamaica Inn hostel with a friend to explore at around 5pm on October 5th 2023.
Mr Gilligan owned the Jamaica Inn hostel at the time and in the days running up to October 5th the jury was told that the property had been vandalised and had been broken into.
The boy said that on exiting the building he said that himself and his friend – who was 13 at the time – ran after they saw a man and he slipped.
The boy said that “I tried to get up and he whacked me on the leg. He just had the stick – full force”.
The boy said, “He just kept hitting me and hitting me but I don’t know how long he did it for because I got knocked out”.
The boy said that he tried to defend himself by putting a hand up “and my wrist was big as a sliotar”,
Asked by the Garda specialist interviewer about being knocked out, the boy said: “I didn’t know I was knocked out but I think there was a bump on my head. A doctor told me that I was knocked out – I don’t know how”.
The boy said that Mr Gilligan dragged him out by the hood.
Asked by the Garda specialist interview did Mr Gilligan say anything, the boy said “I think he said ‘never come back’”.
The boy said that Mr Gilligan asked me where he was from, who his Dad was and what his name was. He said, “I don’t know why he was asking me that”.
Asked how he felt after he was hit, the boy said, “I could not feel anything because I was just terrified”.
He said, “I just never thought that this would never happen to me – I didn’t think anyone would do that”.
He said, “He was so tall and I was so small – it just scared me”.
The boy said that he saw Mr Gilligan “put the stick he hit me with into his red van”.
The boy said that his father showed him a photo of Niall Gilligan at the VHI clinic later that evening “and I knew that it was him”.
The boy said that Mr Gilligan “is like a Clare hurler or something”.
The boy was cross-examined by counsel for Mr Gilligan, Pat Whyms BL (instructed by solicitor, Daragh Hassett) and he said that Mr Gilligan agrees that the boy fell in the slippy area and that Mr Gilligan fell on top of him.
The boy – now aged 14 – said that Mr Gilligan did not fall on him.
Mr Whyms said that in his cross examination the boy said that October 5th 2023 was his third time to go into the Jamaica Inn around that time, that he had admitted stealing keys to the property and let off fire extinguishers there with a friend.
The trial continues before a jury of seven men and five women.
