Youth ‘lynch mob’ terrorised family

A judge has said four men "behaved like a lynch mob from the days of the wild west" when they terrorised a Shannon family in the early hours of New Year’s Day in 2012.

At Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Gerald Keyes said the four had planned a confrontation with an innocent family, the Murphys, at their Shannon home at 4.30am and “terrorised the family”.

The four — three of whom play for the local rugby club — all escaped jail when they paid €2,000 each in compensation to grandfather Michael Murphy, aged 45, who was kicked and punched in the head, requiring stitches.