The family of a 26-year-old man who was murdered as he was walked alone on the street of a rural town have said that Irish society must ask itself "who we want as role models for young men," after hearing the on-bail attacker boasted that he had punched his vulnerable victim "like Conor McGregor in the UFC".
In an emotional victim impact statement delivered to the Central Criminal Court during Monday's sentencing of Maurice Boland - who received the mandatory sentence of life in prison for murder - the family of Cian Gallagher said the three young men who had stopped to help and protect Cian as he lay on the ground, "when we as his family could not, are role models".
"When they demonstrated how they helped Cian, they exemplified the unselfishness and kindness that Cian held dear and represented each day. These young men are role models that young people in our society should aspire to," they stated.
Boland was found guilty of murdering Mr Gallagher on December 12th this year. This was the defendant's second trial for murder after his first trial in April of this year ended in a jury disagreement.
The fatal attack happened on Wednesday November 2nd, going into the early hours of November 3rd, 2022, and Mr Gallagher died in hospital eight days later. Boland (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.
Extending her deepest sympathies to the Gallagher family on the loss of Cian, Ms Justice Eileen Creedon said today that she must impose the mandatory sentence of life in prison on Boland.
Earlier, the court heard Boland has 23 previous convictions and that the defendant was on bail at the time of this offence for a section 3 assault causing harm charge for which he had received a two year sentence. The defendant's life sentence will commence on the expiration of the assault charge, which was in May of this year.
In the statement, delivered today to the sentencing court by Detective Garda Alan Toft on behalf of the Gallagher family and Cian's partner, they said that no parent should have to receive a phone call "in the dead of night" informing them that their youngest son was in intensive care following an assault.
"No parent should have to watch their child die. No parent should ever have to bury their child. No words can describe the effect the nightmare of the past two years has had on our family. We can put on a brave face when required but it just masks our pain".
The Gallagher family said that Cian was raised with strong values and understood right from wrong, good from bad and always choose kindness over hostility and walked away when faced with hostility.
"He was taught to respect others, care for the vulnerable, and, above all, protect and support his family. In the early hours of November 2nd, 2022 these values, which Cian embodied so fully and our role as a family to protect Cian, were violated by an act of senseless violence".
They said Cian was shy and kind and that if he became your friend, he would be a friend for life. "He loved his partner, his family, and his friends. Cian was the kind of man who reflected hope, compassion, integrity, and hard work, qualities that were shattered by an act of violence".
The Gallagher family said that throughout the trial they heard evidence that "shocked" them and that will be "ingrained" in their memories forever.
"We chose as a family not to view the harrowing CCTV footage as that is not the lasting memory we want to have of our son and brother. We, his parents visited Tallow on the eve of his first anniversary, walked the route Cian took and stood where Cian had lain on the cold wet ground that night.
"One of the hardest things to hear was the boasting and the comparison made to a certain mixed martial arts fighter. As a country and a society, we must ask ourselves who we want as role models for young men."
They said Cian was only 26 years old with his life ahead of him.
"Hearing of Cian lying on the wet, cold ground in Tallow to be lying in a cold bed in the hospital morgue eight days later will haunt our thoughts forever. A son was stolen from his mother and father, a brother's bond broken forever and his partner's heart broken".
The family said that the true impact of what they had been through, what they are going through and what they have yet to go through cannot be described in one statement. "The ongoing loss, the ongoing heartbreak, and the ongoing trauma cannot be captured easily".
They said this "senseless act of violence" had ended the life of a "promising young man" and "shattered the lives of the people who knew and loved him". They said a "constant darkness looms" over them and life will never be the same.
In summary, the family said they will remember Cian for who he was and what he represented. They said tomorrow - December 17th - would have been Cian's 29th birthday and that his spirit remains with them.
Following the statement defence counsel Seoirse Fennessy BL, for Boland, said his client had asked him to convey his apologies to the Gallagher family and maintained he did not intend to kill or cause serious harm to Cian. He said Boland acknowledged the pain he has caused to the family.
The hearing was told on Monday that Mr Gallagher was a part of a team that was working on a community project in Tallow in Co Waterford on November 1st, 2022.
Det Gda Toft said Mr Gallagher was making his way home after midnight in the early hours of November 2nd when he was assaulted by Boland and suffered catastrophic injuries from a punch and a subsequent fall.
Mr Gallagher got medical assistance at the scene and passed away some days later.
The defendant's lawyer Brendan Grehan SC alongside Mr Fennessy had argued Boland 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.
“This wasn't a fight, it wasn't an exchange, it was a pursuit down the street of a vulnerable young man,” 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.
Knocked out
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.
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 Eileen 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 concluded that he killed Mr Gallagher and intended to do so, then the verdict would be guilty of murder.
