Former Clare hurler Niall Gilligan accused of repeatedly beating 12-year-old boy with stick

Boy and his friend were exploring building owned by Mr Gilligan when assault took place, court told

Niall Gilligan denies assaulting the boy with a wooden stick and he has pleaded not guilty to the charge of assault causing harm.

A jury was told on 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 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 on October 5, 2023, a then 12-year-old and his then 13-year-old friend went into the Jamaica Inn hostel in Sixmilebridge.

She said the two believed the property was abandoned.

“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 the jury would hear the property was vandalised and broken into in the days leading up to October 5.

She said the jury would be told the two boys were outside the property when they saw Niall Gilligan.

Counsel said when they saw Mr Gilligan, the two boys ran and the 12-year-old will tell the jury “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 the jury would 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.

She said the boy would 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 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 the 13-year-old would say 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”.

She said 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 (instructed by State Solicitor for Clare Aisling Casey) said 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 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.

The trial continues.