A man who told gardaí he was beaten with a breaker bar, waterboarded, threatened with rape, and branded with the letters “RAT” on his face, stomach and back while being held hostage in a shed at the back of a Dublin house has refused to give evidence before the Special Criminal Court.
Garnet Orange SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, on Friday opened the trial of four men before the three-judge, non-jury court before calling the alleged victim, Barry Moore (34), to the witness stand.
Mr Moore had been brought into court by prison officers, having been arrested on Thursday on foot of a bench warrant after he previously failed to appear in court.
When called, Mr Moore said: “I’m not giving evidence” and remained seated, looking at the ground, with his head in his left hand.
RM Block
When Mr Moore repeatedly failed to get into the witness box, Mr Orange applied to the court to admit into evidence statements the alleged injured party made to gardaí in February and March of this year. The court will hear arguments on that application on Saturday.
On Friday afternoon, Mr Orange said he would tender Mr Moore for cross-examination by barristers for each of the accused. However, when he was again asked to enter the witness box, Mr Moore told the three judges: “I’m sorry to the three of you, but I am not giving any evidence in the trial ever. I’m finished with it. I apologise to the three of you.”
In his opening speech, Mr Orange said the State alleged that brothers Jason Hennessy jnr (28) and Brandon Hennessy (22), as well as Kenneth Fitzsimons (45) and his son Dean Fitzsimons (25) assaulted Mr Moore in a shed at the back of Jason Hennessy jnr’s home on Sheephill Avenue in Blanchardstown.
During the alleged assault, he said the group accused Mr Moore of giving information to people with whom the accused were “not friendly”. He said they used a “branding” object with the letters “RAT” on it, which they heated on a gas stove before using it to brand Mr Moore’s face and body.
Det Gda Stuart Gleeson told Mr Orange that he met Mr Moore at James Connolly Memorial Hospital in Blanchardstown on February 13th this year, one day after the alleged assault.
Det Gda Gleeson said Mr Moore had visible injuries to his face, including burn marks with the letters “RAT” on the left and right sides of his face and on his forehead. He had similar burn marks with the same lettering on his stomach and back and his arm was in a sling.
He was “very distraught” and in serious pain, Det Gda Gleeson said, and when asked if he would make a formal complaint, he said he needed to speak to his father first.
Det Gda Gleeson met Mr Moore again later that day after he had been moved to the burns unit at St James’s Hospital. Mr Moore agreed to make a statement and told Det Gda Gleeson that he called to Jason Hennessy jnr’s home in Sheephill Avenue in Blanchardstown on February 12th this year to buy a tracksuit. He arrived at about 6.15pm and was brought into a shed at the back of the property where he met Devon and Jason Hennessy.
He said they chatted for about 15 minutes, during which time Brandon Hennessy and Ken Fitzsimons arrived. As Mr Moore was showing Ken Fitzsimons a photograph on his phone, he said Jason Hennessy jnr “smashed” the phone out of his hands and punched him in the jaw.
He said Ken Fitzsimons later “walloped” him seven or eight times on the legs with a steel bar before striking his right arm, breaking it. He said Jason Hennessy jnr told him to “tell us the truth” and asked what he, Mr Moore, had said to two named people. Mr Moore told them he hadn’t seen the two people for more than a year and begged to be allowed to leave.
Mr Moore said Brandon Hennessy took the breaker bar and struck him repeatedly over the body.
Dean Fitzsimons, he said, threatened to cut off his ears with a Stanley knife before “waterboarding” him using a towel and a bucket of water. Mr Moore said: “I thought I was going to drown. I couldn’t breathe.”
The assaults continued until Jason Henessy jnr told Mr Moore to get up and allowed him to leave.
Jason Hennessy jnr and Brandon Hennessy, of Sheephill Avenue, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, along with Kenneth Fitzsimons and Dean Fitzsimons, of Castlecurragh Vale, Mulhuddart, Dublin 15 are charged with false imprisonment, intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm, and with participating in or contributing to the activity of a criminal organisation by assaulting Mr Moore, causing him serious harm.
Jason Hennessy jnr is further charged with threatening to damage property and producing a branding stamp to intimidate another person during a dispute or a fight on the same date and at the same location. Brandon Hennessy is charged with producing a “steel breaker bar” in a manner likely to intimidate another person while committing or appearing to be about to commit an assault.
Dean Fitzsimons is charged with making a threat to kill or cause serious harm to the alleged victim and producing a metal branding stamp and a steel breaker bar. Kenneth Fitzsimons is charged with producing a steel breaker bar and an axe.
They each pleaded not guilty to all charges on Friday morning.
Devon Hennessy, of Edgewood Lawns, Corduff, Dublin 15 has previously pleaded guilty to falsely imprisoning and assaulting Mr Moore for the purpose of enhancing the activities of a criminal gang. He is not part of the current trial.
The trial continues before Ms Justice Karen O’Connor, Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Fiona Lydon.
