Waterford man who bragged he punched victim 'like Conor McGregor' convicted of murder
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A man who bragged that he had punched his vulnerable victim "like Conor McGregor in the UFC", in an assault that caused the young man's death, has been found guilty of murder.
The jury of five women and seven men took five hours and 11 minutes to reach their unanimous verdict following Maurice Boland's second trial for the murder of 26-year-old Cian Gallagher. His first trial in April of this year ended in a jury disagreement.
Ms Justice Eileen Creedon thanked the jury and exempted them from further service for five years. The victim's family will be invited to make statements to the court on December 16 before Boland will be sentenced to the mandatory term of life imprisonment.
Boland did not react when the verdict was revealed.
The attack happened on Wednesday, November 2, going into the early hours of November 3, 2022, and Mr Gallagher died in hospital eight days later. Boland (aged 37) of Bridgeview Close, Tallow, Co Waterford had pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Gallagher on Barrack Street in the town.
The defendant's lawyers had argued he was guilty of unlawful killing, not murder, because there was no evidence of his intent to kill or cause serious injury to Mr Gallagher. The pathology evidence in the trial showed that Mr Gallagher died from injuries sustained when he fell and banged his head on the ground after Boland punched him.
However, prosecution counsel Bernard Condon SC told the jury that the victim did not "spontaneously fall". He was pursued by Boland, counsel said, who had earlier in the night been drunkenly threatening to "beat the sh*t out" of a patron at a bar, and "smash his face in".
Mr Condon said CCTV showed Boland standing at the door of the pub, waiting for someone to come along, when he saw Mr Gallagher leaving, unsteady on his feet and possibly getting sick. Boland "zeroed in" on Mr Gallagher like he was "prey", Mr Condon said.
Counsel described Boland pursuing his victim down the street before delivering "a haymaker, a very big punch" that put Mr Gallagher down, "and God love him, he didn't get up."
Following the assault, Boland bragged to three young men who arrived on the scene that he had hit Mr Gallagher "like Conor McGregor in the UFC".
Boland later lied to gardaí saying that Mr Gallagher, who was a decade younger than the defendant and of slim build, swung at him first, but Mr Condon said the CCTV evidence proved this was not true.
Mr Condon said:
Mr Condon said there was a cowardly element to Boland's behaviour, as he did not square up to "a fit young man" in the pub but instead went after "the walking wounded". He suggested that Boland only stopped the assault when he had knocked out his victim and said the punch was part of a process in which the accused wanted to cause serious injury.
The trial heard that Mr Gallagher had been drinking from around 7pm in Tallow, while Mr Boland had been drinking in Lismore from 7pm until about 10pm that evening. Boland got a bus from Lismore to Tallow at about midnight.
The State's case was that Mr Gallagher was walking down the road when he was "set upon" by Boland, who "wanted to do damage" and was not going to be finished until his victim was put down and knocked out.
In his closing speech for the defence, Brendan Grehan SC said there was no evidence of intent to kill or cause serious harm.
He disagreed with the description of the punch as a "haymaker" saying: "What happened is that as a result of that punch, he [Mr Gallagher] collapsed and banged his head off the ground and suffered a very bad brain injury from which he never recovered."
Mr Grehan said that the accused “clearly wasn’t a loveable drunk, he’s the kind of fella you’d edge away from”, but he did not attempt to engage in any violent behaviour earlier in the evening. He said that in pleading guilty to manslaughter, Boland accepted his responsibility.
In her charge to the jury, Ms Justice Creedon said that every unlawful killing is manslaughter, but it shall not be murder unless the accused intends to kill or cause serious harm.
She told the jury that if they decided that the accused did not intend to kill, they still must consider whether he intended to cause serious injury. If they conclude that he killed Mr Gallagher and intended to do so, then the verdict is guilty of murder.