A FORMER minor Limerick footballer and national athletics champion, who was lured to a savage beating by two brothers, told a court that his attackers and former friends “beat me like they wanted me dead”.
Ciaran Ryan, of Pallaskenry, County Limerick, fought back tears as he told the court how the brothers, who he had grown up with, left him afraid for his life.
Daragh Hayes (37) and Cian Hayes (34), of Ballyashea, Kildimo, Co Limerick, brothers of All-Star hurler Kyle Hayes, beat Mr Ryan with a hurley and a wrench, and later threatened to attack his car sales business and his girlfriend’s home if he told anyone about the attack.
Limerick Circuit Criminal Court heard that both accused “lured” Mr Ryan to Daragh Hayes’ house on the guise that they would discuss arrangements for Cian Hayes’ wedding, in which Mr Ryan was the best man.
Once inside the house, the two brothers set upon Mr Ryan, wrongly believing he had been involved in a romantic relationship with Daragh Hayes’ ex-partner, who he was separated from at the time.
Daragh Hayes broke a hurley off Mr Ryan while Cian Hayes delivered blows with the wrench, their sentencing hearing heard.
Mr Ryan sustained multiple broken bones, including to his leg, arm, fingers, as well as extensive bruising all over his body, and continues to suffer traumatic stress.
Prosecuting barrister Lily Buckley said Mr Ryan pleaded with the brothers to stop, but they carried on, only stopping when they realised he was truthful when he said he did not know anything about what the brothers erroneously accused him of.
The attack happened in the front sitting room of Daragh Hayes’ house at around 7.15pm on September 29, 2021.
Mr Ryan delivered a harrowing victim impact statement in court and told how “the two men, who had been friends of mine since I was a child, changed my life forever”.
‘Darkness still lingers in my parish’
The qualified carpenter, who runs a car sales business in Limerick City, said he still finds himself paralysed in fear by the “psychological carnage” of the attack.
“It is like a veil of darkness descended on me that day, for no reason, a darkness that still lingers in my parish until now, but Cian and Daragh have yet to apologise to me,” Mr Ryan said.
Mr Ryan said he and his family had been “semi-shunned” by some within their parish because “for speaking up against the Hayes brothers”.
“Since this assault my life has been hell in my local parish, the Hayes brothers made up plenty of false rumours and accusations about me.
“I was a high-level sports star, now I am afraid to set foot in any local pitch in my parish.
“I played minor Gaelic football for Limerick, I have many All-Ireland medals for athletics, I played soccer at a high level against international teams, and now I am going to counselling and I still suffer from extreme post-traumatic stress, which effects my relationships.”
Mr Ryan said he continues to suffer with “horrendous nightmares and suicidal thoughts”.
“I fear for my safety on a daily basis … sometimes I don’t even want to wake up,” he told the court.
“I also feel vulnerable in my own workplace as they know where I am six days a week – I am in constant fear that my business and property will be targeted,” Mr Ryan told the court.
‘Beat me so hard with the hurley that it snapped’
Brian McInerney and Lorcan Connolly, senior defence counsel for the two accused, said the two defendants wanted to apologise to Mr Ryan and that he had nothing to fear from them.
Mr Ryan said he was welcomed into the house on the evening in question, but then without warning, “Cian picked up the big spider wrench and Daragh picked up a hurley and, without explanation, they beat me like they wanted me dead”.
“I tried to protect my face from the strikes by Cian, the venom in his eyes terrified me.
“Cian shattered a number of my ribs and punctured my lung, all the while Daragh was beating me on the other side of my body with a hurley.
“Daragh beat me so hard with the hurley that the hurley snapped, I couldn’t catch my breath, I didn’t know what was going on or how I was going to escape.
“They broke several of my fingers, and when Daragh grabbed the wrench from Cian they pinned me down and I was sure they were going to finish me off.
“They both stretched out my right leg and Daragh swung at me with the wrench just below my kneecap, the force of it broke the biggest bone in my leg just under my kneecap.
“I was battered on both sides of my body, between my arms, lungs, ribcage, legs and fingers.”
Mr Ryan said that, after conceding that he had told them the truth, Daragh Hayes cried and told Cian Hayes “we went too far”, but Mr Ryan said “Cian showed absolutely zero remorse”.
“They called out conditions to me as Daragh was beating me with the broken hurley. I thought he was going to stab me with the spike of the broken hurley.
“Cian told me ‘you won’t be telling anyone that we did this to you, or else’. Daragh told me some of the conditions included that my father could not pull into the petrol station for diesel and I could not be seen anywhere in Kildimo.”
‘We will blow in your girlfriend’s windows
Mr Ryan said the brothers threatened him that the “consequences” of telling anyone “will be that we will blow in your girlfriend’s windows or we will get you”.
He said the two accused dragged him out of the house and into his car and they had to use tools to straighten his car keys in order to start the vehicle, after the keys were bent during the assault.
Mr Ryan said he phoned his girlfriend to collect him on the road, and she ferried him to University Hospital Limerick for emergency treatment.
Testimonials on behalf of the two defendants were handed into court, including from Kildimo Pallaskenry GAA Club, where Cian Hayes is captain of the current County Limerick Junior B hurling champions.
The brothers’ retired secondary school principle, John Egan, also provided a testimony on each of their behalf, the court heard.
Gardaí questioned the two brothers after Mr Ryan gave a statement to them from his hospital bed a few days after the attack.
They denied having anything to do with Mr Ryan’s injuries and claimed he was telling lies.
A pivotal chain in the Garda case against the two accused came after Mr Ryan’s DNA was found in blood stains on cushions that Gardaí seized from Daragh Hayes’ home following the attack.
In an effort to deflect responsibility, Cian Hayes told Gardáí that Mr Ryan’s injuries might have had been attributable to him getting “caught up in a drugs deal”, however there was absolutely no evidence that Mr Ryan had any involvement with illegal drugs.
The two accused were originally charged assault causing serious harm to Mr Ryan, however the State accepted their guilty pleas to assault causing harm, which carries a lesser sentence.
They also pleaded guilty to possessing the hurley and the wrench and using them as weapons during the attack.
Judge Colin Daly adjourned sentencing to January 30, 2025, and remanded both accused on continuing bail.
