The father of the boy (12) allegedly assaulted with a stick by former All-Star and Clare All-Ireland winning hurler Niall Gilligan phoned him from hospital to say “you just viciously attacked my son”, a court has heard.
On the fourth day of the trial at Ennis Circuit Court, the boy’s father gave evidence of a phone call he made to the accused as his son was being treated for his injuries by medics on the evening of October 5th, 2023.
The father told the jury on Friday that he got Mr Gilligan’s phone number after his son told him what had occurred earlier in the day where Mr Gilligan is accused of assaulting the boy with a stick.
Mr Gilligan (48) of Rossroe, Kilmurry, Sixmilebridge, denies the charge of assault causing harm with a stick at the Jamaica Inn hostel, Sixmilebridge in 2023.
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In evidence, the father said he phoned Mr Gilligan and said: “ I am currently in A & E with my son who you just viciously attacked.”
The father said Mr Gilligan did not respond to the allegation.
He said he first brought his son to a VHI clinic in Limerick.
“Once they (medical staff) started cutting his clothes off him they were finding more and more injuries,” he said. “They found he had soiled himself which led them to believe that he was unconscious at some stage.”
He said medics at the clinic made the decision that the boy should be transferred by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick (UHL).
The boy’s father said he did not believe his son’s initial story that he had fallen off his bicycle.
“I definitely didn’t think that he fell off a bike. He was covered head to toe in muck.”
He said his son had his jacket pulled down over a cut on his arm “and I could see blood coming from the cut”.
The father said his son “had a swollen hand and he was limping. He was talking quite fast as well and he was pale so I imagine adrenaline and shock.”
He said that once they got to the clinic, his son told him what had happened earlier.
The trial continues before a jury of seven men and five women.
