A MAN WHO was previously convicted of the manslaughter and rape of a woman was today jailed for eight-and-a-half years for attacking a 29-year-old man and his 66-year-old mother with a clawhammer in their Cork home.

Ian Horgan (38) formerly of The Hermitage in Macroom and Ballincollig, Co Cork filmed a video of the blood covered mother and son.

The mother said the unprovoked attack resembled a “blood bath” out of a “horror movie”.

Horgan pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm to Hassan Baker at MacCurtain Villas on 26 March 2022. He also pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Mary O’Callaghan.

Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard that Horgan did not known either of his victims. However, his then girlfriend had previously dated Baker.

Following the frenzied attack in March of last year Horgan sent a video of a distressed, injured and moaning Baker to his girlfriend.

In the course of their investigation, gardaí accessed the phone of the accused. They found that he had texted his girlfriend saying that he was “washing the blood off his knuckles”.

He texted “I destroyed him (Baker). He won’t be acting the hard man ever again”.

Detective Superintendent Michael Comyns told Judge Helen Boyle that Horgan went to Cork city from Macroom by bus on the day of the offence.

He was caught on CCTV as he walked to the home of Hassan and his mother Mary in MacCurtain Villas in the Lough. Horgan was carrying a bag which contained a claw hammer and clothes.

He went to a derelict shed near the house where mother and son lived. There he undressed and put on new clothing which included a black hoodie and a snood to hide his identity.

He knocked on the door of the victims house shortly at around 2.30pm on 26 March 2022. When Mary O’Callaghan opened the door he pushed past her and hit both her and her son with the claw hammer.

He choked Hassan Baker who went in to a semi conscious state and fell to the ground.

Horgan then hit him again with the clawhammer while he was vulnerable and on the floor.

Hassan suffered horrific injuries in the incident. These included a fracture to his skull and a fractured cheekbone. He also sustained injuries to his eye socket. Following the attack, for which he had to undergo surgery, he struggled with PTSD, speech problems and nightmares.

His mother Mary O’Callaghan suffered a fractured hand and multiple bruises in the incident. Detective Superintendent Comyns said that Horgan used an accent that wasn’t his own when he spoke to the traumatised duo. He claimed he was at their home to collect a debt.

Detective Superintendent Comyns said that Horgan filmed a few videos of the blood covered pair as they lay helpless on the ground. He then sent these images to his girlfriend.

The court heard that Horgan seemed composed as he left the scene. He returned to the shed and put his original clothes back on.

After he texted his girlfriend from an area park he left the country for a period of four months. However, he was subsequently arrested when he returned.

Victim impact

In a victim impact statement, Mary O’Callaghan said she had been happy in her home until a man she later learned was Ian Horgan barraged in to the property.

“He was swinging a hammer when he came in. I did not know this man. My son, Hassan rushed to my aid and this man put him in an arm lock and started to pound him. There was blood everywhere.

“I felt so helpless. It was like being part of a horror movie but unfortunately it was real. He kept on pounding Hassans head with the hammer. At this stage Hassan was unconscious ad I thought he was dead. I managed to get in between them and I shouted that he is dead.

“I didn’t realise at this stage but he had also broken my right hand with a blow of the hammer. After I said to him that Hassan was dead, he then left. I really felt my son Hassan was dead as the place was like a blood bath.

“The next thing I remember was being in the hospital and the doctors were explaining about the brain surgery that they were going to perform on my son. I wasn’t able to take it all in.”

O’Callaghan said that the incident has caused her and her son considerable trauma.

“The scene I witnessed has resulted in me being unable to sleep. I relive the horror and have nightmares. I cannot relax.

“I sleep with the light on now. I never did before. I was never afraid in my home but since this serious assault I feel terrified, scared and physically it seems I can’t wake up from this nightmare.

“When I look at the marks on my son’s head, I can see the imprint of the hammer on the side of his skull. I know I am lucky he is alive.”

She thanked gardaí for their assistance in the wake of the shocking assault.

In his victim impact statement, Hassan said that Horgan entered their home with a hammer in his hand and held him in an arm lock.

“When I fell to the ground, I was then beaten with a hammer using full force to the side of my head by Ian Horgan.

“He also caught me on the shoulder with the claw of the hammer. I was knocked to the ground with the impact and blood flowed massively from my head. I had tried to protect my mother while I struggled to defend myself but I was helpless. The blows of the hammer knocked me out completely. It was a nightmare scene. I then became unconscious.

“Since I was assaulted, I have felt devastated, scare and I live in a paranoid state, looking out the window and over my shoulder, every single day. I am always on alert in case something sudden happens. I have constant nightmares and night terrors. I wake screaming in the night a lot.

“I have a huge scar on my head after the surgery and a significant mark on my face. This is a constant reminded to me of what happened that day.

“My speech has been affected majorly and I I have to seen an occupational therapist. I feel embarrassed talking to people. I still continue to see doctors and I am due to go for another brain scan soon to determine the full extend of the damage done internally.”

He said that his short term memory has not been the same since the attack. He now suffers migraines and has had three seizures since he received his devastating injuries.

“I worry about my future and what Ian Horgan has done to me both in the short term and the long term. I still feel bad for my mother, this all happened in her home.

“I never even spoke to Ian Horgan before this and yet he came to our house with the intention of causing serious harm to me, equipped with a hammer. I don’t ever want to see him again and I would like to ensure he stays away from our home in the future. ”

Defence counsel, Jim O’Mahony, SC said that Horgan had written letters of apology to the mother and son. He said that his client was addicted to heroin and crack cocaine.

Judge Boyle said that it was an incredible “cowardly assault” which had far reaching consequences for mother and son. She jailed Horgan for nine years but suspended the last six months of the sentence.

Horgan has spent almost half of his life in prison. He has 17 previous convictions for manslaughter, rape, robbery, theft and drug offences.

23 years ago, Horgan was jailed for 12 years for the manslaughter and rape of 22-year-old Cork beautician Rachel Kiely. She went out to walk her dog but was set upon by Ian Horgan.