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A HOSTAGE SITUATION which led to the lockdown of a prison may have been an attempt to make a claim against the State, a court has heard.
In October 2014 Cloverhill Prison was on full alert when convicted murderer Ciaran Moran tied his cellmate Dean Fagan up and threatened to slit his throat.
Moran had knocked Fagan unconscious before tying him up and cutting his head with a homemade bladed weapon or shiv. The hostage situation ended after 90 minutes when Moran walked out of the prison cell.
Moran (30) of Rathsallagh Park, Shankill, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm and false imprisonment in Cloverhill Prison on October 11, 2014.
Suspicions
John Berry BL, defending, said that the victim, who was on remand facing trial, was no stranger to the offence of false imprisonment.
He put it to Garda Kevin Mullahy that the garda would harbour some suspicions about the incident and that there was more to it than meets the eyes.
Counsel said there may have been some sort of collusion between the victim and Moran and the incident was possibly connected with a claim against the State or movement of prison cells. Garda Mullahy agreed but added there was no evidence.
Judge Melanie Greally noted the suggestion of some kind of collusion. She said “That may very well be the case, but it in no way mitigates against the very serious acts committed”.
She also noted the evidence that Moran was dissatisfied because the Prison Authorities had seized and censored a letter he had sent about a case he was a suspect in.
‘In an agitated state’
The court heard that on the day of the incident, Fagan had been watching a football match while Moran was reading a book when Moran came across and struck his head.
When Fagan came to he found himself tied to a chair with strips of bedsheets and his head was bleeding. Prison officers later told gardaí that Moran was walking around the cell in an agitated state.
He was wearing blue latex gloves and had armed himself with the shiv, as well as a broken piece of mirror. Paul Quinn, an assistant chief officer with the Prison Service, began negotiating the safe release of Fagan.
Noel Devitt BL, prosecuting, told the court that Mr Quinn spent the next 90 minutes trying to calm Moran down in the face of repeated threats to harm the victim.
His efforts were eventually rewarded when Moran agreed to walk out of the cell and meet the prison governor. Before this he persuaded Moran to give the victim a cup of water and to later share cigarettes, passed into him by prison staff, with Fagan.
At one point, Moran told Quinn that he would give him ten minutes to meet the governor or he would slit the victim’s throat. Moran’s lawyer told the court that his past offending had been influenced by his addiction to alcohol and other substances. Berry also said his client was now estranged from his family.
Judge Greally imposed a prison term of three and a half years, which will run alongside the life sentence imposed on Moran in May 2015. Moran also has separate convictions for manslaughter, assault and aggravated burglary.
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RTE 1 Good evening and here is the news. Only six or seven people were shot in Dublin this evening but sources say it has nothing to do with the main gangs that are shooting each other. As soon as the smoke clears we will bring you further updates!
You forgot the reassuring soundbite full of jargon from francis the sycophantic social worker..
Seems like more of a punishment shooting than anything else 3 in the arm one in the leg.
Or the other way round lol
punishment? you think he was a bold boy?
Either that or the shooter has a very bad aim . Maybe it was his first time …
they are blooding new talent these days
Assel
Do you know know what a punishment shooting means?
Dublin 2016 = lawless to the point where lawlessness has now become normalized.
Take a bow Frances, Acting Minister for Chaos and Lawlessness.
are you threatening me Nick?
LOL……
@Assel, If you are going to troll the Journal, at least learn to read and write at a reasonable standard of English. God Bless you, Father Stack
Brian…give poor francis a break…she knows that behind every assassin..every killer,every thug,gunman,hitman,psychopath,drug dealer…lies a vulnerable individual.
Well if it is a so-called punishment shooting, carried out in Clondalkin, then it would probably the CIRA. And that would mean that so-called dissidents were out on the streets shooting people, and given all the connotations of the Kinihan-Hutch feud, any such shooting should be regarded as related.
Leave my name out of this please
Ironically in Frances’ constituency. Everyone was all over it during the election. A baby almost killed in Finglas. Cowards gunning down an innocent man in town, mistaken identity… And last week no less than 2 shootings in the same night and now this.
The Juan Kerr’s in government should hang their heads in shame. They only gave a a fook about being re-elected
Where’s the armed Garda patrol and checkpoints now? I didn’t see a single checkpoint at all this bank holiday. Couldn’t do (say) enough a few weeks back
I didn’t vote for you Frances. Your a disgrace, letting the criminals shoot the place out of it
Ah poor francis…she totally wants to conduct an intervention with these vulnerable groups of armed men and young people…perhaps a family welfare conference or two…perhaps approach the “issue” from a strenghts based perspective with a view to a wrap around care package for the most vulnerable gang members and targetted support – bespoke of course – for the remainder.Gardai operating in the area will of course wear tracksuits…to do otherwise may offend the the vulnerable gang members sensetivities and possibly upset them.
You forgot about the Nike trainers , dead giveaway if the Gardai are not wearing them !
Ah Sis…easy knowing im not from a social work background…duffer and armani tracksuits i know about…didnt think of the de rigeur Nike’s…thankfully francis is “across this” and will have vouchers to hand…
Bro , you’re right I’m sure she’ll have every angle covered … she’s usually on top of things .
Shocking so two gangs killing each other and now random shootings time for a zero tolerance policy on organised crime and use of guns in crime more eru on streets open back up the stations and get more gaurds on the beat enough is enough
we need a story about Halawa hurry up …. forget this Irish stuff make us feel guilty.
Shooting in Dublin !!
As long as it isn’t in Dartry or Milltown where the Defence barristers and Judges live then there is no need to worry.
no shooting in dublin 6 so do you think people get shot for no apparent reason at all?
Worse it’s getting instead of better!
Thanks Yoda.
Whatever he did it almost cost him an arm and a leg.
Elmo must be back again
Francis is a male and Frances is a female for all the people who seem to get mixed up, only saying.
Hope he wasn’t a Leicester City fan
Chat shit get banged!
Shit shot, bang bang
Victim known by the authorities???
Think he was a spurs fan.
gang bang …..
here
have your say