Tag Archives: Central Criminal Court

A Limerick teenager who sexually abused his younger stepsister, while babysitting her, has been sentenced to eight years in prison, with the final three years suspended. The 19-year-old man, who cannot be identified to protect the girl’s identity, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin to two counts of oral rape and five counts of sexual assault on dates between February 2011 and January 2012 at locations in Limerick and County Clare. Mr Justice Paul Carney said the sentence is in line with the “the distressing details of the case” along with the breech of trust, the inherent gravity of the offences and the age of the victim. He ordered that the teenager have no contact with the victim and directed he undertake 18 month post-release supervision. He also placed the teenager on the Sex Offenders Register. The accused was 16-years-old and the girl was seven when the abuse occurred, when he was minding her. He has no …

A 40-year-old man has been convicted of murdering a Polish man in Ennis last year. Michael Maughan (40) of Stone Court, Ennis had pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Piotr Nowakowski (31) at Sandfield Mews, Ennis on July 23, 2013. The Central Criminal Court was told the manslaughter plea was not acceptable to the prosecution and a jury was sworn in for the one-week trial. Maughan had also pleaded not guilty to assaulting Declan O’Dea at the same address on the same date. On this Friday afternoon, the jury of seven men and five women found him guilty on both counts by unanimous decision after two hours and 23 minutes. Mr Justice Paul Carney handed down the mandatory life sentence for the murder to run concurrently, with four years for the assault on Mr O’Dea. He backdated both sentences to July 24, 2013 for time spent in custody. Mr Nowakowski was stabbed twice and died …

A judge has told the jury in the trial of an Ennis man accused of murder, that alcohol is not a defence to criminal responsibility. The jury is expected to begin its deliberations on this Friday in the case of Michael Maughan (40) of Stone Court, Ennis, who has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Piotr Nowakowski (31) at Sandfield Mews, Ennis on July 23, 2013. Last week, the Central Criminal Court was told the manslaughter plea was not acceptable to the prosecution and a jury was sworn in for the week-long murder trial. Mr Nowakowski was stabbed twice and died in an ambulance on the way to Shannon Airport where he was to be airlifted to hospital in Cork. The court heard that the accused and his brother had been drinking with the deceased and two other men in an apartment in the Sandfield complex earlier that day and returned there later that night. …

The continuing trial of man who admits killing a Polish man in Ennis last year but denies murdering him, has heard that the accused “would be known to drink a lot.” Michael Maughan (40) of Stone Court, Ennis has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Piotr Nowakowski (31) at Sandfield Mews, Ennis on July 23, 2013. Last week the Central Criminal Court was told the manslaughter plea was not acceptable to the prosecution and a jury was sworn in for the murder trial. The accused has also pleaded not guilty to assaulting Declan O’Dea at the same address on the same date. On Wednesday, Detective Garda Brendan Rouine told the court that when he went to the incident at Sandfield Mews he saw a man being treated by paramedics on the ground and said he had two stab wounds to his chest. He told Roisin Lacey BL, prosecuting, he also saw Mr O’Dea outside on …

A man who admits killing a Polish man in Ennis last year but denies murdering him told gardai that he “just went berserk”. Michael Maughan (40) of Stone Court, Ennis pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Piotr Nowakowski (31) at Sandfield Mews, Ennis on July 23, 2013. Last week the Central Criminal Court was told the manslaughter plea was not acceptable to the prosecution and a jury was sworn in for the murder trial. The accused has also pleaded not guilty to assaulting Declan O’Dea at the same address on the same date. On Tuesday, memos of garda interviews with the accused during his detention were read to the jury, in which the accused said that he stabbed Mr Nowakowski twice. “I pulled a knife and stabbed him twice…I don’t feel one bit proud,” he told gardai. “Declan got a few clouts and he ran,” he added. He then told gardai that after paramedics arrived …

By Aoife Nic Ardghail A TWO and a half years in prison sentence has been imposed on a Clare man for sexually assaulting a then eight-year-old girl in her home. The 53-year-old man pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to sexually assaulting the girl by touching her private parts on November 23, 2009. He has no previous convictions. Judge Mary Ellen Ring said although the man had pleaded guilty, she was concerned that he had not fully accepted the implications of what he had done. An investigating garda revealed that the little girl had been watching TV when the man came into the room and lay down beside her on the sofa. The girl told gardaí the man had touched her chest area and private parts and asked her if she wanted to see his penis. The girl said “no” and nothing else happened. The garda told Tara Burns SC, prosecuting, that the girl complained to her mother after …

By Jessica Magee and Emer Connolly A Kilmihil man who raped a Brazilian woman he had asked to clean his house has been sentenced to seven and a half years, after a judge said he couldn’t “buy himself out” of a custodial sentence. Father-of-four Thomas Egan (47), a developer, of Cahermurphy, Kilmihill, paid over €10,000 in court to be forwarded to his victim, who has since returned to Brazil. Mr Justice Barry White suspended the final three and a half years of the sentence, noting that Egan had a previous “unblemished record” apart from a minor road traffic offence. Egan was convicted last May by a jury at the Central Criminal Court of raping the 23 year-old woman at a house in Tipperary on July 5, 2010. He had denied the charge. Egan admitted having sex with the woman, but told gardaí it was consensual and that she had not shown any fear. During the trial, Seán Gillane SC prosecuting, …