Written by Eamonn Dillon, Irish Independent
“The boy at the centre of an investigation into an alleged assault in which a former GAA star has been arrested suffered a shocking catalogue of injuries, it is claimed.
The youngster was left with deep bruising on his body and a fractured collarbone, a broken wrist, damaged fingers and a gash below his knee, a relative said.
The 12-year-old suffered the injuries last October, but it recently emerged a man had been arrested and questioned by gardaí over the assault allegations.
The boy was knocked unconscious during the incident and had to use a wheelchair for nearly two weeks afterwards, his family have claimed.
The relative told how the boy recounted the incident to her which began after he and a friend went into a derelict building on their way to football training.
“The building where the incident took place has been derelict for many years. At the time of the incident there was never any private property or ‘No Trespassing’ signs on the building.”
A lot of people used to be going in and out, and boys being boys they went in and had a little nose around, the place was rack and ruin,” the relative said.
The woman described how the boy told her it was a wet day and the man had a stick.
“The boy slipped and fell and told his mate to run on because ‘he is going to kill me’,” she said.
“He beat him with a stick repeatedly,” the relative said.
The boy’s relative has claimed he suffered a fractured collar-bone, broken wrist, damage to his fingers and “his leg was split open below the knee. He was also knocked unconscious. He had bruising all over his body.”
The child’s father brought him to to be checked out, where an ambulance was immediately called and he was taken to University Hospital Limerick.
Gardaí were informed by the hospital staff and statements were taken at that time from the boy’s father, according to the relative.”
