Assault and robbery of one of the accused prompted Kieran Quilligan murder, court told

The Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork heard that: 'The case is for the most part circumstantial'

27-year-old Luke Taylor

A murder trial jury in Cork was told by the prosecution on Wednesday that the instigation for the killing was the deceased man’s involvement in an assault and robbery of one of the two men now accused of murdering him.

They were also told that he probably met a violent death that same day even though his skeletal remains were not found for almost five months in a garda search of wet ground in a rural area of East Cork with the help of a cadaver dog.

33-year-old Niall Long, formerly of St. Michael’s Close, Mahon, Cork, and 27-year-old Luke Taylor, formerly of Cherry Lawn, Blackrock, Cork, pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork to the single charge of murder.

The murder count against each man states that on a date unknown between September 1, 2023, and January 29, 2024, at an unknown location within the state in the District Court area of Cork City he did murder Kieran Quilligan, contrary to Common Law.

Donal O’Sullivan, prosecution senior counsel, said in his opening address to the jury today: “The prosecution is not in a position to say which of the two accused landed the killing blows. We say it was a joint enterprise. 

"Sometimes the phrase used is common design where two people embark on something and the purpose is to commit a particular crime… A lot of it is circumstantial evidence.” 

He said the jury would hear evidence in relation to drugs but that this was not what they were here to judge.

Mr O’Sullivan said: “Kieran Quilligan was 47 in September 2023. He was a user of the Simon Community and lived in an apartment provided by them.

"He was someone who took drugs and was dealing drugs at the time. Niall Long is someone who was a drug user and may have been dealing drugs as well."

He said on the morning of September 1, 2023, on a side street off York Street (which runs between MacCurtain Street and Wellington Road) Kieran Quilligan was with John Paul Thornton, who is nicknamed Bubbles.

The prosecution senior counsel said:

They had an involvement with Niall Long on the side street. They robbed him and assaulted him. 

"That was in the morning. Kieran Quilligan and John Paul Thornton then left the area and they went to Kieran Quilligan’s apartment… It appears this is the instigating factor of what occurred later that evening.

“Luke Taylor was known to both Kieran Quilligan and Niall Long. He (Taylor) came into contact with Kieran Quilligan in his (Quilligan’s) apartment. They went across the city.”

33-year-old Niall Long

He said the two men passed South Gate Bridge and walked towards St. Fin Barre’s cathedral and walked up the wide steps of St. Fin Barre’s Place which connects with Dean Street.

“Mr Quilligan and Mr Taylor went up that lane. Two people in one of the houses heard a violent altercation and they called the guards,” he said.

He said Niall Long was at his address in Mahon and drove his mother’s white Toyota car to Dean Street where it was reversed into St. Fin Barre’s Place at 9.05pm. Kieran Quilligan and Luke Taylor were not seen on CCTV at the top of that lane. 

The car leaves and is later tracked to Little Island and to a lane at farmland in East Cork, and back to Jacob’s Island in Mahon where Luke Taylor is dropped off.

“Kieran Quilligan is never seen alive again. The last time he was seen was at Proby’s Quay around 9pm,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

At 10.15pm on September 4, 2023, Luke Taylor is seen being picked up in a white Toyota car at Rochestown Park Hotel and the car is tracked on CCTV in the area of Midleton, Rostellan, Trabolgan, Little Island. 

Gardaí later became concerned about a particular area at White Well, Rostellan. With the assistance of a cadaver dog from Northern Ireland, gardaí searching the area on January 29, 2024, found an empty one-ton gravel bag and underneath it was a second gravel bag containing skeletal remains of Kieran Quilligan.

Margaret Bolster, pathologist, found that the man had been badly beaten and that “a weapon was used, in the nature of a hammer”, Mr O’Sullivan said, adding: “He met his end in a violent manner after a lot of bony injuries.” 

Before the remains were found in January 2024, there was a search under warrant of the property of Niall Long on September 15, 2023, and a car was found to contain a bucket with cleaning products. Blood was found. It was matched to Kieran Quilligan.

'Circumstantial case'

Mr O’Sullivan said as he concluded his opening summary to the jury of the anticipated evidence: “You have heard from what I said, I don’t have direct evidence, I don’t have witnesses saying, ‘I saw Luke Taylor and Niall Long beat him to death’. I don’t have that. 

"The case is for the most part circumstantial — a man goes missing on September 1, found on January 29, most likely he died on September 1.” The trial continues.