Brothers of Limerick hurler Kyle Hayes 'beat man with hurley and wrench' as victim begged them to stop

Two Limerick brothers beat a man with a hurley and a wrench, breaking several of his bones, wrongly believing he had been involved in a relationship with one of their ex-partners, a court heard Thursday.

Daragh Hayes (37) and Cian Hayes (33), both of Ballyashea, Kildimo, county Limerick, who are the brothers of five-time All-Ireland winning Limerick hurler Kyle Hayes, appeared before Limerick Circuit Criminal Court for sentencing for the savage unprovoked attack on their former friend and neighbour Ciaran Ryan.

Mr Ryan, who runs a car sales business in Limerick City, suffered multiple fractures including to a leg, arm, fingers, as well as extensive bruising all over his body, the court heard.

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Lily Buckley, prospecting barrister, said Mr Ryan had “pleaded” with Cian Hayes and Daragh Hayes, to stop hitting him, but they carried on, despite his pleas.

They eventually stopped when they realised he was “telling the truth” and that he had not been romantically involved with Darragh Hayes’s ex-partner and mother of his two young children, Claire McNamara, the court heard.

Ms Buckley said Mr Ryan was set upon by the two accused after they had invited him to Daragh Hayes’ house under the pretext that they were to discuss Cian Hayes’ impending wedding in which Mr Ryan was Cian Hayes’ best man.

The parties had grown up together and, up until the day of the attack, they were close friends of twenty years, Ms Buckley said.

Mr Ryan, who had unsuspectingly brought cake, wine and beer to the house thinking it was to be a “pleasant visit” was welcomed inside the property by Cian Hayes.

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However, the two accused immediately began questioning Mr Ryan about a text message he had sent to Ms McNamara, several months beforehand and prior to the couple separating, which was entirely innocent in nature, the court heard.

When Mr Ryan told the two accused he did not know what they were taking about, they produced an adult-sized hurley and a large wrench that was over a foot in length, and started to beat him with the weapons. The attack happened in the front sitting room of Daragh Hayes’ house, around 7.15pm, on September 29, 2021.

Detective Sergeant Michael Reidy, Newcastle West Garda Station, told the court, that the “violence ensued almost immediately”. Cian Hayes and Daragh Hayes stood over Mr Ryan and told him “you better start talking” before they started to rain down blows on him with the spider wrench and hurley, Ms Buckley said.

“Cian Hayes swung a wrench at me from one side and Dara Hayes was hitting me with the hurley from the other side,” Mr Ryan told gardai following the attack.

He sustained multiple fractures, bruising all over his body, and a collapsed lung. Ms Buckley said: “They hit him all over his body, he slid onto the floor and was roaring at them to stop, he tried to clam them down, he was finding it hard to breath due to a collapsed lung from the impact.”

“Mr Ryan was struggling to breath, but Cian Hayes said to his brother, ‘don’t mind him, Daragh, he can breathe’, and they both began hitting him again on either side,” Ms Buckley continued.

Sergeant Reidy told the court the two accused unleashed a “severe beating” on Mr Ryan. Ms Buckley told the court: “They hit him everywhere except his head and his feet, they paused to question him again, but they believed he was lying, and they hit him again three or four more times.”

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“Daragh Hayes broke the hurley hitting Mr Ryan with it. He then demanded the wrench from Cian Hayes and he hit Mr Ryan a blow to the right leg.”

“Mr Ryan believed at this point that he had broken his knee cap, he was begging for them to stop, but they just carried on,” said Ms Buckley.

Cian Hayes resumed hitting Mr Ryan with the wrench and Daragh Hayes picked up the boss of the broken hurley and struck Mr Ryan’s hand with it. When the two accused eventually realised their mistake, Cian Hayes became “visibly upset”, Ms Buckely said.

Daragh Hayes, however, threatened Mr Ryan that his car sales business, in Limerick City, and his girlfriend’s family home would be targeted if he told anyone what had happened. Ms Buckley said Daragh Hayes also warned Mr Ryan to stay out of local pubs and shops, “he was told to be invisible despite being the victim”.

The two accused placed Mr Ryan back his car because he couldn’t physically get to the vehicle due to his injuries. The two accused used tools to straighten Mr Ryan’s car keys which had been “bent out of shape” in the impact of the beating. Mr Ryan alerted his girlfriend as he tried to make his way home and she met him and immediately brought him to hospital.

Mr Ryan initially spent eight days in hospital recovering from emergency surgery, and had to undergo further operations to have metal implants put in his bones. He had to undergo an extensive physiotherapy regime but had made a good physical recovery, the court heard.

Mr Ryan alerted a local Garda and gave gardai a statement from his hospital bed about the attack. The two accused men initially denied having anything to do with Mr Ryan’s injuries. Daragh Hayes’s home was searched and items taken from the house were forensically examined.

Blood stains found on cushions removed by gardai from the home were a match for Mr Ryan’s DNA, which proved to be “pivotal” in supporting his garda statement about the attack, Ms Buckley said. The two accused were each initially charged with one count of section 4 assault “causing serious harm” to Mr Ryan and with producing weapons.

The State eventually accepted their pleas to a lesser charge of assault “causing harm” to Mr Ryan which carries a lesser sentence. The two accused also pleaded guilty to possessing the hurley and the wrench during the attack. The sentencing hearing is continuing at this afternoon and is expected to hear details from Mr Ryan’s victim impact statement.

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