A former All-Ireland winning hurler has gone on trial charged with assaulting a 12-year-old boy in Co Clare in 2023.
Niall Gilligan, with an address at Kilmurray, Sixmilebridge, Co Clare, has pleaded not guilty to assault causing harm, at the Jamaica Inn Hostel, on 5 October 2023.
The 48-year-old also denies a second charge of producing a wooden stick, capable of inflicting serious injury, at the same address, on the same date.
The case, before Judge Francis Comerford, began this morning at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court.
As the injured party is a minor he cannot be named.
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In her opening statement, prosecuting barrister, Sarah Jane Comerford, outlined the State's case to jurors.
She told them that the 12-year-old victim, and his 13-year-old friend, went to the Jamaica Inn Hostel in Sixmilebridge on 5 October 2023, thinking it was abandoned.
The premises was owned at the time by Mr Gilligan and had been subject to vandalism, prior to the date in question.
While the two boys were on the property, Mr Gilligan arrived.
The children saw him and ran away but the 12-year-old fell while making his escape.
The prosecution alleges that he was then hit with a wooden stick, held by Mr Gilligan, on the legs, ribs, elbows and hands.
Ms Comerford said photographic evidence of bruising and cuts the boy sustained would be presented during the trial.
The State alleges that Mr Gilligan then grabbed the child and asked him who his father was.
In the meantime, the 13-year-old got away and hid in a nearby industrial estate. While he was safe, he was still scared and heard screaming.
The victim was subsequently taken to University Hospital Limerick, where he was treated for his injuries.
In the aftermath of the incident, Mr Gilligan was arrested and told gardaí his actions were in self defence.
A jury of seven men and five women has been empanelled for the trial, which is expected to take four days to complete.
Watch: Former Clare hurler Niall Gilligan leaving Ennis Circuit Criminal Court
Jurors were shown a recording of the garda interview with the 12-year-old boy, which was conducted in November 2023.
In it, he spoke of how he was "terrified" during the ordeal.
The boy said he had gone to the Jamaica Inn Hostel to explore it with his friend, thinking it was abandoned.
They jumped over a wall to access the property and "explored the whole place".
"It was long and it looked very abandoned," he said, "we didn't think anyone owned the house".
The children spent about an hour in the building.
When they were preparing to leave to attend soccer training, they saw a man coming around a corner.
The boy detailed how he and his friend were running away, when he slipped and fell to the ground.
"I was on my belly, I tried getting up and I looked behind me and he just whacked me on the leg," he said of the initial blows he sustained.
The then 12-year-old said he did not know who his assailant was but that "he just kept hitting me … he had the stick and he just went full force … I felt it and I saw it."
The boy said he was struck on his hips, hands, wrists and elbows.
"He just kept hitting me and hitting me, then he grabbed me by coat and just dragged me out," the boy said.
He said he was terrified by the experience.
"I just never thought that would ever happen to me, I didn't think anyone would ever do that to me. He was just so tall and I’m so small, and it just scared me," he told investigating gardaí.
He described the man who hit him as someone who "looked old" and was "around 40".
The boy said he was bleeding from his knee and elbow, due to deep cuts he had sustained.
After the incident, he made his way home, getting a lift from a local woman he met en route.
He initially told his father he had fallen off a bike, as he thought he would get in trouble. He was subsequently taken to a VHI clinic before being sent to University Hospital Limerick.
In his November 2023 interview, he told gardaí he was still terrified.
"Sometimes I just randomly think about it and sometimes I have dreams about it, or I wake up and I think about it," he said.
Under cross-examination this afternoon by defence barrister Patrick Whyms, the boy was asked if he had been in the Jamaica Inn on any occasion before the date in question.
He replied that he had been there once or twice before.
On his first visit, a broom blocking a door broke when he pushed it, and he ran away.
"I thought it was abandoned, there was graffiti everywhere".
On another visit, the boy told Mr Whyms he and his friend "used two fire extinguishers… (as) we were curious and bored".
He told the court that the interaction with Mr Gilligan happened on their third visit to the premises.
The boy denied that he was among a group of three people who were in the hostel on that occasion.
Mr Whyms said his client was in the building on the day, as he was concerned about ongoing vandalism there. He heard people running along the corridor and claims they left through a different exit than the one the boy claimed he had used.
"He's definitely wrong, that’s all I can say," the boy said in response.
"Mr Gilligan admits he used a stick to try and stop the person, who turned out to be you, inside the building", added Mr Whyms.
The boy said this was not the case and that he was "100%, it was outside the building".
Mr Whyms said Mr Gilligan contends both he and the boy fell outside, but the victim disputed this, telling the court this was incorrect.
The barrister went on to ask about a set of keys to the property.
The boy admitted that he and his friend had stolen these on a previous visit, so they would be able to gain entry to the premises again.
"We had the keys, they were inside the building, I think it was before that day", he said.
The case has adjourned for the day and will resume in the morning.
