Defence claim case against men accused of Kieran Quilligan's murder has a big hole in the middle

The defence lawyers also said the jury was being invited to speculate on what the co-accused might have planned

The defence senior counsel for Niall Long (pictured) said: 'It is possible for you to say Niall Long is not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.'

Defence lawyers in the Kieran Quilligan murder trial said in their closing speeches on Tuesday there is a big hole in the middle of the prosecution case and that the jury was being invited to speculate on what the co-accused might have planned.

For Niall Long, the defence senior counsel Ray Boland said: “What is missing in this case — in the middle of this case? The prosecution says they have no direct evidence of who struck the blows that killed Kieran Quilligan. Nor does he have evidence of what was contemplated. There is no circumstantial evidence or any evidence of what the plan was.

“Mr O’Sullivan (for the prosecution) said you put jigsaw pieces together but there is a hole in the centre of the picture. There is a spotlight before, there is a spotlight after, there is a big hole in the middle.

“If there was a plan to break his legs or every bone in his body, we don’t have that plan.

“You may be seeing a parallel Cork. You may not have been aware of drug addicts, people who live their lives in a different way. You know (Niall Long) was dealing drugs to Kieran Quilligan and he was robbed by Kieran Quilligan and John Paul Thornton. He was in fact robbed by John Paul Thornton.

“It seems Niall Long approaches this lifestyle quite late. He is 31 (at the time), living at home with his parents, working as a mechanic. He is at a very low level (of dealing) — his customers rob him. This is a problem for him. This is presented as a motive for the whole thing. He has no previous convictions except minor road traffic act matters.

“The prosecution have to prove there was a plan to at least cause serious harm. I suggest there was a plan to intimidate Kieran Quilligan, maybe to punish him, rough him up, take him out to Little Island and abandon him there. Maybe someone doing that went too far.

“Drink and drugs can render you more susceptible to death. It is possible for you to say Niall Long is not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.” 

However, Mr Boland asked them to find him simply not guilty of murder.

Mr Boland also referred to another scenario: “If this was a plan for some minor punishment beating and someone else had gone further than the other contemplated.” Niall Long’s lawyer asked: “How does he go from mechanic to small drug dealer to someone contemplating hyper violence because a few hundred quid was taken.

“It makes much more sense that Kieran Quilligan met his end out in Little Island. We don’t know who did it, and whether they were alone with Kieran Quilligan.” 

Luke Taylor's defence

For Luke Taylor, defence senior counsel Brendan Grehan told the jury they were being invited by the prosecution to speculate as to what plan was afoot on this night.

He referred to the prosecution suggestion that the robbery by Kieran Quilligan of Niall Long of drugs and cash related to an argument about the amount of the cash to be paid.

“But you might say, are we here about someone murdering someone for that? Or might they have considered beating him up or some other way… to make sure they were not out of pocket.

To murder someone, break a lot of bones and dump the body where it might never be found… the prosecution is trying to lure you into reverse reason, saying, ‘Look at what happened. And that must have been planned all along’. 

"I suggest the most they can show — that you can deduce — is there must have been some plan to meet up with Mr Quilligan. Mr O’Sullivan (for the prosecution) likes the word, ‘lure’, that Kieran Quilligan was lured to the scene.

“The prosecution suggest (St. Fin Barres’s Place) was carefully chosen — what a great spot to murder somebody — but how does that stand up to any close scrutiny? Surely there are dozens if not hundreds of places to go where there would be no one around… This is not a spot where one would pick for a spot of murder.

“There is no evidence of forensics from the scene at St. Fin Barre’s steps. There is no evidence of a serious assault.” 

Mr Grehan said if the jury were satisfied that Mr Taylor was involved in moving the remains three days afterwards that did not prove that he was in any way involved in murder a number of days earlier. At most, it might make him guilty of inhibiting detection of a murder.

“You can say he is guilty of getting Kieran Quilligan to a meeting with his co-accused but there is nothing to suggest the plan was murder.

“And if someone else does something you are not guilty by mere presence. You are guilty if you are part of the plan. The prosecution is asking you, ‘Why don’t ye speculate on what might have been agreed. You end with a dead body so that must have been planned’. But there is no evidence it was planned.

Mr Grehan said if the jury were satisfied that Luke Taylor (pictured) was involved in moving the remains three days afterwards that did not prove that he was in any way involved in murder a number of days earlier. At most, it might make him guilty of inhibiting detection of a murder.

“Whether he was to be abducted and brought off some place, or assaulted in some less serious way — they are all live possibilities. You can only convict on it (murder) if you are satisfied to exclude all other reasonable possibilities,” Mr Grehan said.

28-year-old Luke Taylor, formerly of Cherry Lawn, Blackrock, Cork, and 33-year-old Niall Long, formerly of St. Michael’s Close, Mahon, Cork, are on trial on the same charge of murder. 

The murder count which each man denies, 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, 47, contrary to Common Law.