Kilkenny son unable to save father from ‘horrendous assault’ at own home

Details of an “horrendous incident” in which two men attacked a family in their own rural Kilkenny home have been recounted before the circuit court.

The attack left the father and 21-year-old son with serious injuries while the mother and teenage daughter looked on.
Two men pleaded guilty to charges of affray - Patrick Connick, Ballyvereen, Glenmore, Co Kilkenny and his brother-in-law James Newport, Boher, Kilrane, Rosslare Harbour, Co. Wexford.

The attack took place in the front garden of the home of the Duggan family, in a rural area of Glenmore, in the early hours of August 29, 2022.

Joshua Duggan had been celebrating his 21st birthday the evening before, and was in a pub in Rosbercon, New Ross, with friends. There was an altercation between Mr Connick and Mr Duggan at the pub but no complaint or charges arose from this.
Mr Connick had attempted to punch Mr Duggan. Mr Duggan then ‘connected’ a punch. Both left and went their separate ways.

Some time later Mr Connick was with Mr Newport and they met a female friend who drove them to the Glenmore area, and the Duggan’s home.

They drove into the property and the front door was opened by Mrs Duggan. She was asked if Joshua was at home. She had ‘a bad feeling’ and said he was not there. Initially she didn’t want to open the door.

The party left. They met some other people down the road and asked where Joshua Duggan lived. The address was confirmed and the car returned to the Duggans.

This time William Duggan came out to see what the three people were doing, driving on to his land.

The female driver stayed in the car, Mr Connick and Mr Newport got out.
Mr Connick was first out of the car and he began to assault William Duggan.

Mr Newport followed his brother-in-law out of the car and Joshua Duggan came out of the house.
He heard the ‘ruckus’ outside. His mother had told him there were ‘lads outside looking for him’ and his father had gone out.

As Joshua Duggan stepped outside he heard a loud thump and saw his father fall to the ground and a man jump on him.
Then he saw a second man run at him.
Joshua recognised the man he had the altercation with in the pub.

As he was leaving the house, Joshua grabbed a miniature baseball bat that his father had brought home from America as a souvenir. When Mr Connick tried to jump on him and kick him Joshua swung the bat and hit him.
Then he put it on the ground and got Mr Connick in a headlock, bringing him to the ground. He said he hit Mr Connick a few times, until he stopped trying to attack him.

Joshua saw Mr Newport on top of his father, who was pinned to the ground, punching his father in the face.
He ran over and tried to pull Mr Newport off his father. Mr Newport struck Joshua in the face, connecting with his front teeth. He suffered significant injuries.

Mr Duggan senior was still on the ground. Mr Connick and Mr Newport walked back to the gate. As they did Mr Connick turned and told Joshua he ‘wouldn’t have a restful night in the house again’.

The car in the driveway had been turned and was waiting outside the gate, pointing at the main road, for a getaway.
Joshua only then realised his father was injured. Shortly afterwards an ambulance arrived.

Injuries suffered by Joshua included a fractured knuckle on his right hand and two fractured teeth. He had bruising to his left eye, a cut over his eyebrow and swelling to the back of his head. He spent the night in hospital.

Both Duggans were taken to University Hospital Waterford. William Duggan had two ‘raccoon-like’ black eyes, bruising with swelling to the upper part of his face. He had a CT scan of his head to see if it was fractured. He did suffer a fracture to his wrist.

William and his wife Carol are in their 40s, the court was told, Joshua had just celebrated his 21st birthday and his sister Rebecca was 18 at the time. A family friend, aged 22, was also in the house at the time.

Mr Duggan senior missed 10 weeks of work due to his injuries. Joshua Duggan had to have significant reconstruction surgery on his teeth, which is not yet completed, at a total cost of €13,000.

When the alarm was raised by the Duggans, gardaí in counties Wexford and Kilkenny immediately put in place a number of check points, including the Armed Support Unit at Millbanks, Rosbercon.

At about 1.20am that unit came across the car and brought it to a stop. Mr Connick and Mr Newport were arrested.
Mr Connick admitted to having been at the Duggan home and gave information about meeting Joshua Duggan at the pub. Mr Newport gave an account of the events.

In his victim impact statement, Joshua Duggan described the incident as ‘a random, unprovoked assault.’
He said: “These men followed me to the sanctuary of my home” where they attacked him and his father.

Joshua said he will never forget his father’s injured face. “When he needed me most I was unable to save him,” he said.

In the wake of the incident he often woke in terror, in the night. He decided to leave the country to give himself some relief, but now he always worries for the family he left behind.

In his victim impact statement, William Duggan said the date August 29, 2022 will forever be etched on his brain. His family had lived happily but “everything changed in the course of one night.”

Mr Duggan said he’d seen the effect the incident had on his neighbours, and that the attackers could have mistaken any house for theirs. He feels embarrassed, even knowing they are blameless, for the fear this has brought to his neighbours.

When he was initially knocked to the ground, Mr Duggan said he was temporarily unconscious.
“What frightened me most was the look of terror on my wife and daughter’s faces when they saw me,” he said.

His son, Joshua, had a good job but emigrated, due, he thought, to this. His daughter had been going into sixth year and her studies were affected. For a long time she would wake screaming.
To this day, he said, his family are alert after dark.

Barrister Caren Geoghegan said her client, Mr Connick, had asked her to apologise in court. He had been brought to hospital with a gash over his eye, following his arrest.
He cooperated with the gardaí.
Mr Connick, 33, is a married, father of three, she said.

A Probation Report said he engaged well and accepted responsibility for his actions. He is deeply remorseful and ashamed. This is an isolated incident. He is an upstanding member of society, of good character and a family man. He ‘completely lost his mind on the night in question’.

He had consumed an unusual amount of alcohol, for him, at a stag party and it had an effect on him.
The altercation earlier in the night was minor and he had “no explanation for how it developed into what it did.”

When the barrister said Mr Connick had symptoms of concussion for some time after the incident Judge Jonathan Dunphy told her not to go any further with that line of defence, saying he “would like to see what (Mr Connick) would do if someone came to his driveway and threatened his wife and three young children.”

Ms Geoghegan said her client fully accepted this was a ‘horrendous incident’ but appealed for a suspended sentence.

Barrister Donnchadh Morgan, for Mr Newport, said his client offered an unreserved apology and is ashamed of the events that night. He is younger than Mr Connick ‘by some years’.
Mr Newport realises the “extremely negative impact of his actions on this night.”

A Probation Report was positive.
He ‘immaturely’ and ‘naively' expected a conversation between the parties at the Duggan house. He realises his lack of foresight was ‘recklessness’ and matters descended into chaos through no fault of the Duggans.

Both men had brought compensation to court, totalling €11,000, but on hearing the injury expenses suffered by the Duggans was €20,000, asked to be given more time to gather funds.

Judge Dunphy ordered the amount already offered be given to the Duggan family and adjourned the case to the November’s sitting of Kilkenny Circuit Court. He warned he was ‘not promising anything’ when the case is finalised.
Both men were remanded on continuing bail.