Top boxing coach fails in appeal against sex abuse conviction

The Court of Criminal Appeal (CCA) has dismissed an appeal brought by a top boxing coach against both his conviction and the severity of the seven-year prison sentence he received for sexually abusing two boys he trained.

The CCA today said that Frank Mulligan's behaviour was "an abuse of trust of the most appalling kind".

Last April Mulligan, (aged 62), Mulladuff, Smithboro, Co Monaghan, was jailed for a total of seven years by Judge John O'Hagan after being found guilty in January 2008 of two counts of buggery, three counts of indecent assault and of sexual assault against the two boys.

Mulligan was found guilty of the offences by a jury following a two-day trial at Cavan Circuit Court.

A highly respected coach, Mulligan coached at the local club which produced the former world featherweight champion Barry McGuigan and heavyweight fighter Kevin McBride, who defeated Mike Tyson. Mulligan wrote a book 'Me and McGuigan, The Making of a Champion'.

The seven offences he was convicted of took place at locations in Co. Monaghan, including the boxing club and his home, on dates between 1989 and 1997.

The abuse started when his victims were in their early teens. Complaints about Mulligan's behaviour were made to gardaí in December 2006.

Judge O'Hagan imposed a seven-year sentence for the two buggery offences, as well as two-year concurrent jail terms for both the three indecent assault offences and the two sexual assault convictions.

Mulligan denied the charges, and appealed against his conviction and the seven-year sentence he received for the buggery offences.

Today the three-judge court of Mr Justice Nial Fennelly, presiding, sitting with Mr Justice Roderick Murphy and Mr Justice Eamon De Valera dismissed Mulligan's appeal against both his conviction and the seven-year sentence.

In dismissing the appeal the CCA could find no error with either the conviction or the sentence. Mr Justice Nial Fennelly said that the offences were "most serious," and were committed on "innocent youngsters" who were keen and enthusiastic about boxing.

As a respected person in the community and as their coach Mulligan, the judge said, had "grossly abused" his position. It was, the judge added, an "abuse of trust of the most appalling kind."