Man admits kicking Rossiter in head over remark about brother

A 26-YEAR-OLD who drank 12 or 13 pints of cider said he head-butted 14-year-old Brian Rossiter, kicked him in the head and gave him an upper cut into the jaw, all because he made a comment about his brother.

Unemployed father-of-one Noel Hannigan pleaded guilty yesterday to assault causing harm to Brian Rossiter on September 9, 2002.

The young boy was found unconscious in a garda cell in Clonmel in Co Tipperary two days later and subsequently died in hospital. But his death had nothing to do with the unprovoked assault at the hands of Hannigan, counsel for the State Rosario Boyle said yesterday at Clonmel Circuit Court.

Hannigan has been released on bail and ordered to reappear in court on October 31 when probation and welfare as well as medical reports will be presented to Judge Michael O’Shea.

The court heard how Noel Hannigan, of Cooleens Close, Cashel Road, Clonmel, who was 22 at the time of the assault, went to the gardaí two days after the assault and made a full statement on the attack.

“I thought he made a smart comment about my brother. I just hit him a slap,” Mr Hannigan said in the course of his statement.

“I cut my forehead on his tooth. I still have the scar. I hit him four or five times in the face. I don’t think he fell.

“I’m sorry for what I did. That’s it. There’s nothing more I can do about it,” he said in the garda statement on the same day as the youth was found in a coma in the garda station.

Brian had been arrested on suspicion of committing a public order offence.

Detective Sergeant Barry O’Riordan said he spoke to several people and confirmed that since the incident, Hannigan has been assaulted on a number of occasions in retaliation for the attack on Brian Rossiter. In one attack, he was stabbed.

Stewart Sheedy, who was with Brian Rossiter on the night of the attack, told gardaí the two were outside Brian’s sister Sharon’s house when Hannigan, who appeared to be drunk, came up and asked if they knew who he was.

Brian Rossiter replied that he believed him to be Mark Hannigan’s brother.

Hannigan returned five minutes later and asked if Brian had a problem with his brother. He then pushed Brian, pulled his head down, gave him three head butts and kneed him in the head, before giving him an upper-cut into the jaw.

It was not until Sharon Rossiter came out that the assault stopped. She said she’d found her brother “crippled over with blood coming from his mouth”.

She described the attack as “a vicious assault” and said Hannigan left the scene saying: “You won’t say anything about my brother Mark again.”

She said that immediately after the assault, Brian’s eyes were swollen and she gave him a bag of peas to ease the swelling. The next day, he was hardly able to see.

While the swelling on his eyes had gone down a day later, his forehead was still very swollen and his sister gave him an Anadin Extra. His eyes were still puffy and black and blue at that stage.

Hannigan has previous convictions for road traffic offences, public order, being intoxicated in a public place and more recently, on July 23, 2003, he was convicted of assault causing harm and given a two-year, suspended sentence.

Counsel for Hannigan John O’Kelly SC said his client had no formal qualifications and limited education.

Timeline: the Rossiter inquiry

* September 11, 2002: 14-year-old Brian Rossiter is found in a coma in a cell at Clonmel Garda Station.

* September 15, 2002: he dies at Cork University Hospital.

* January 16, 2004: solicitor Cian O’Carroll, acting for the parents of Brian Rossiter, writes to Justice Minister Michael McDowell, drawing to his attention their concerns.

* January 19, 2004: a formal reply is dispatched stating the matter was “receiving attention”.

* March 29, 2004: Cian O’Carroll writes again, stressing the family’s wish that the matter “would have received more urgent attention”.

* March 31, 2004: another formal acknowledgment is dispatched.

* May 20, 2004: the minister’s private secretary writes back, saying the minister has requested the garda authorities prepare a report on the matter.

* August 31, 2004: the minister’s private secretary writes to say the investigation of a criminal complaint is an operational matter for An Garda Síochána and “as such the minister has no role or function therein”.

* January 5, 2005: Cian O’Carroll writes a further letter on behalf of Brian Rossiter’s mother, a preliminary to the institution of legal proceedings against the minister and the gardaí.

* June 29, 2005: Mr McDowell announces an inquiry into the matter — Rossiter family refuse to cooperate with the inquiry. The Rossiter family was never consulted on the terms of reference, as they had requested.