Accused: Cousin asked my father for €20,000 to drop case

A man on trial for biting part of his cousin’s ear off said he never assaulted the relative and claimed yesterday that the complainant had asked his father for €20,000 to drop the case.

Patrick Able Quilligan, aged 26, with an address at 12 Pine Court, Ashleigh Downs, Tralee, Co Kerry, pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault causing harm to a namesake, Patrick Pedlar Quilligan, a middle-aged man, at Commons Rd, Cork, on December 3, 2008.

Asked by Desmond Hayes, defending, if he carried out the assault, Able said there had never been any physical confrontation between them.