A 26-year-old father of two was yesterday jailed for two-and-a- half years after he pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to 14-year-old Brian Rossiter just a few days before the Clonmel, Co Tipperary, boy became ill while in Garda custody.
Noel Hannigan, Cooleens Close, Cashel Road, Clonmel, admitted headbutting Brian Rossiter four or five times during the unprovoked assault on the youth at Cashel Street in Clonmel at around 12.30am on September 9th, 2002.
Brian Rossiter was arrested himself less than 24 hours later on suspicion of committing a public order offence and was taken to Clonmel Garda station, where he was found unconscious on the morning of September 11th, 2002. He never regained consciousness and died at Cork University Hospital on September 13th, 2002. His arrest and detention are now the subject of a sworn inquiry established by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell.
Hannigan was initially charged with assault causing harm to Brian Rossiter, but indictments for assault causing serious harm and manslaughter were later added, though these were subsequently dropped, and the DPP has launched an inquiry into how these charges were laid without his authorisation.
Last June at Clonmel Circuit Criminal Court, prosecution counsel, Rosario Boyle SC, said the State fully accepted there was no connection between the assault on Brian Rossiter by Hannigan and the boy's death and this was reiterated yesterday.
Yesterday, Hannigan's counsel, John Kelly SC, pleaded for leniency for his client, pointing out that Hannigan had come forward voluntarily to Clonmel gardaí and made a full statement, admitting that he had headbutted Brian Rossiter four or five times and punched him.
Mr Kelly said that because of what had happened to Brian Rossiter, Hannigan had become "something of a social outcast" in Clonmel and had great difficulty finding work for a long time though he was now working for a floor-fitting firm. He had also suffered two serious stabbings as a result of what happened to Brian Rossiter. Hannigan was devastated when he heard that Brian Rossiter had died and had expressed deep remorse to gardaí for any injury that he caused the boy, Mr Kelly said.
The court had earlier heard that Hannigan had drunk 12 or 13 pints on the night of September 9th, 2002, when he approached Brian Rossiter and another youth sitting on a step outside Brian Rossiter's sister, Sharon's house and asked them for cigarettes.
The boys gave him a cigarette and he went to leave the scene but returned to ask Brian Rossiter if he knew his brother, Mark, and then took some offence at Brian Rossiter's reply and he proceeded to headbutt and punch the youngster.
Yesterday, Judge Michael O'Shea noted Hannigan was 22 at the time and a grown man while Brian Rossiter was just a boy.
He noted that Hannigan had pleaded guilty but he also noted that Hannigan had a previous conviction for assault causing harm in July 2002 and he sentenced him to two-and-a-half years in jail for the assault on Brian Rossiter.
Afterwards, Cian O'Carroll, solicitor for Brian Rossiter's father, Pat, said the family was disappointed that, over four years on from their son's death, Hannigan was the only person to have been brought before the courts.