Swanlinbar man declared innocent

Desmond Corrigan, Gubnamadra, Swanlinbar, who was charged with assaulting two stewards, two brothers, in a Ballyconnell nightclub, had the charges against him dismissed by Judge Sean MacBride at the local District Court. The case centred on an incident at Lee"s Nightclub, Main Street, Ballyconnell, on June 4, 2007, when the defendant was charged with assaulting John and Paul Flynn and was forceably ejected from the premises. Mr. Corrigan claimed he sustained a broken bone in his foot, an injury to his left eye and was hit around the head by a steward. Garda Bernard Whitney said that Mr. Corrigan reported on June 6 that he had been assaulted by stewards in the nightclub. He was on crutches and had a cast on his left leg as well as bruising to his face. While Garda Whitney was taking a statement Garda Bushell said that the two Flynns had made a statement of complaint on June 4 against Mr. Corrigan, claiming he had bitten them, and John Flynn also reported he had been hit on the head. In his statement Mr. Corrigan claimed he sustained a broken bone in his left foot and an injury to his left eye. Michael and Darren Dolan and Gavin McGoldrick came to his assistance and he fled. His shirt had been ripped off and his trousers were down to his ankles. Mr. Corrigan admitted biting one of the stewards as he felt he was being ejected in the wrong and it was case of mistaken identity. One of the bouncers also had his knee in Mr. Corrigan"s ribs. Judge Macbride: Why are the bouncers not charge with grievous bodily harm? Garda Whitney: There was a lack of evidence. Judge: That is nonsense. Are stewards allowed to behave in this fashion? They are most certainly are not. The defendant had to get treatment in the Mater Hospital in Dublin for his injuries. He was battered, received a broken leg and an injury to his left eye and yet he is before me charged with assault. The stewards are charged with nothing and they"re no angels. You had sufficient evidence to charge the stewards with assault. Its disgraceful what happened to Mr. Corrigan. Replying to Ms. Maura McNally, BL, (instructed by Mary McAvetty solicitor) defending witness said he recommended that the defendant be prosecuted. He didn"t think it was reasonable to have someone stripped to his boxer shorts. Judge: I"m most unimpressed with the investigation into this case. This is barbaric behaviour. This is where people go to the Court of Human Rights in the Hague, and if they are convicted they get 20 years. It is totally outrageous and unacceptable and nothing justified what happened to Mr. Corrigan. Photographs of the injuries sustained by one of the stewards were handed in and when Ms. McNally saw them she drew the judge"s attention to the date in which they were printed. The date on the photos was in March three months prior to the assault. Judge: These were taken and printed prior to the date of the incident before the court. This case is going from bad to worse. Ms. McNally pointed out that her solicitor was granted a Gary Doyle order but she was not given the photographs before the case. Superintendent Brian Brunton said the two possible explanations were that the time on the machine was wrong or that there was an American date on the machine. He added that he would not be offering any further evidence in the case. Judge MacBride said it was not the superintendent"s fault but the matter was not professionally investigated by Garda Whitney. There was a witness to the assault on Mr. Corrigan and that should have been investigated. The issue of the photographs beggars belief. On the face of the photos it would appear they were taken prior to the date of the offence. Judge MacBride added that there would be a gross miscarriage of justice if the photos were allowed to proceed as exhibits. There was a plausible explanation because the main complainants, the two Flynns, concocted them and tried to set up an innocent man for alleged injury. Mr. Corrigan could not possibly inflicted the injuries on the Flynns if the photos were printed prior to the date of the alleged offence. There was evidence that Mr. Corrigan was being held on the ground by a number of stewards and kicked. There is a grave risk of a miscarriage of justice if Mr. Corrigan is tried and none of the stewards were tried. Judge MacBride said there is sufficient evidence for the stewards to be prosecuted if the proper rigours of the laws were enforced. Mr. Corrigan has no previous convictions and of good character. He is entitled to his good man and a presumption of innocent. He leaves this court today without a stain on his honour. 'I"m declaring this a gross miss trial.' 'I don"t believe that Garda Whitney set out to charge an innocent man with assault. He was careless and not professional. If there are allegations in future cases there are two sides to every case. In my humble opinion there is ample evidence to charge the Flynn"s with affray.' Any injury inflicted by Mr. Corrigan was in self defence. 'It would be unjust and unlawful to go ahead and I declare Mr. Corrigan innocent.'