MAN FOUND GUILTY OF KILLING CABBIE
Family tells court of pain at dad’s stabbing
BEYONCE perfomed at a concert to mark 100 years since former South African president Nelson Mandela’s birth in colours that would have looked great on one of his famous shirts.
She was among a host of celebs to appear in the Global Citizen Festival in Johannesburg that also included Naomi Campbell, Oprah Winfrey, Pharrell Williams and Usher. Martin Mulligan was stabbed twice in 2015 THE daughter of a cabbie who was stabbed to death told a court yesterday he was “brutally, viciously and inhumanely killed”.
The Central Criminal Court heard victim impact statements from the family of 53-yearold Martin Mulligan who was attacked on a road near Dundalk, Co Louth, in September 2015.
Joseph Hillen, 24, was found guilty of his manslaughter in October. He will be sentenced on January 28.
At a sentence hearing yesterday in front of Justice Eileen Creedon, Mr Mulligan’s youngest daughter Shauna said she had the “privilege and honour of having my dad in my life for 25 years”.
She said: “He supported me in so many ways and motivated me with his kind, encouraging words like, ‘You just do your best’ or ‘I am very proud of you Shauna’.
AFRAID
She told the court his death has left her “vulnerable and afraid to face life without him”.
His eldest daughter Sharon remembered his “kindness and selflessness” and recounted how when their neighbour’s father died her dad took care of their youngest boy Cian.
She added: “Cian, who has just turned 18, told me he was looking forward to having his first legal pint with my dad. My family and I feel like we have nothing to look forward to any more.”
Mr Mulligan’s wife Grainne said they were about to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary when he died. She added: “We had so many wonderful years together but not enough. Martin was and still is the love of my life.”
She said she would always be haunted by the way her husband died, adding: “On the side of the road, alone without me or his family around him. I always wonder, did he cry out for me?”
Hillen, from Glendasha Road, Forkhill, Co Armagh, had convictions for road traffic offences, handling stolen property and evasion of customs on goods.
He initially denied all knowledge of Mr Mulligan’s death but later admitted there been an altercation. Hillen claimed the deceased pulled a knife then the blade was “flipped” and Mr Mulligan was stabbed twice.