Irish Daily Mirror

Muireann gives ‘short’ shrift to hurt Matthews

Getaway driver, 49, in court to hear how victim cheated death

- BY ALISON O’RIORDAN news@irishmirro­r.ie

MUIREANN O’connell denied she called Spencer Matthews “short” on The Six O’clock Show.

A battle of “he said, she said” broke out this week when the Made in Chelsea star, who is married to Vogue Williams made the claim on their podcast.

He said: “I did the Six O’clock live show last night in Ireland and I gave a very nice interview…”

“Then at the end the presenter went, ‘Ah he’s just so nice, he’s so nice!’ And the other presenter went, ‘Yeah he is, he’s so nice,’ and she just went ‘Shame he’s so short.’

Dubliner Vogue also chimed in saying: “Muireann, I can’t believe you said that about my husband.”

But Muireann said: “Oh my god, before this turns into Jen and Brad, Leo and Tony Holohan, Twink and Linda Martin, we need to get this straight.

“Spencer said his son Theodore would say certain words in a Dublin accent, like ‘shirt’ would become ‘short’, actually it was Martin who gave that example. That’s all that was said.”

THE victim of a murder bid by a crime gang only survived through “a miraculous piece of medical luck”, a court heard yesterday.

During the sentencing hearing for getaway driver Alan Graham, it was revealed gunshot wounds formed an abnormal connection between an artery and a vein that stopped Lee Boylan bleeding to death.

The Central Criminal Court heard the victim was blasted three times in the shoulder and neck as he sat in his van in broad daylight in a highly populated area of West Dublin.

Graham, 49, was remanded in custody by Mr Justice Michael White until March 12, when he will be sentenced.

The court heard Mr Boylan would have bled to death had his carotid artery and jugular vein not joined in an arterioven­ous fistula – an abnormal connection that stopped the bleeding.

Mr Boylan was left with life-changing injuries, the court heard, because an organised criminal gang “perceived” he had been involved in the murder of a man in December 2018. The three bullets cannot be removed from the 26-year-old and remain in his body.

Mr Boylan, whose three-year-old child was supposed to be with him in his van that day, asked gardai in the ambulance on the way to hospital not to let him die.

Last month, Graham, of Davin Gardens, Cahirdavin, Limerick, pleaded guilty to having knowledge of the existence of a criminal organisati­on and participat­ing in activities intending to facilitate them with the attempted murder of Mr Boylan or being reckless as to same at Blakestown Road, Mulhuddart, on March 6, 2019.

At a brief hearing, prosecutin­g counsel Pauline Walley SC said there were two counts on the indictment and a “nolle prosequi” will be entered on the attempted murder charge after the defendant is sentenced. This means the State will not be proceeding with the prosecutio­n against Graham on the first count of attempted murder.

PASSENGER

Yesterday, Det Sgt Shane Mccartan detailed the background to the shooting, telling Ms Walley that Graham was driving a BMW on the day which was carrying the passenger who had shot Mr Boylan.

He said gardai first became aware of events shortly after 5pm when they received 999 calls indicating a number of gunshots had been fired through a driver’s side window of a car that was parked at a junction on a busy street close to Blanchards­town Shopping Centre.

He added Mr Boylan was in a “very bad way” and sustained life-threatenin­g and life-changing injuries after being shot three times in the neck and shoulder in a highly populated area with high levels of traffic.

Det Sgt Mccartan said it was a “miraculous piece of medical luck” that a fistula was created as a result of the penetratin­g wounds as otherwise Mr Boylan would have instantly bled to death at the scene.

Several gardai and ambulance crew attended the scene and Mr Boylan was removed from his van.

CPR was performed on him on the road before he was transferre­d by ambulance to Connolly Hospital, where he expressed his fear of dying to a number of gardai in the ambulance.

The victim was later transferre­d to Beaumont Hospital, where a stent was placed in his neck which saved his life.

CAPT WALES Harry on assault course BY CHRISTOPHE­R BUCKTIN US Editor and RUSSELL MYERS Royal Editor

AS he and James Corden enjoyed a traditiona­l British cream tea on an opentop bus tour of LA,

Prince Harry spoke of Meghan, revealing he knew she was “the one” on their second date.

He admitted dating for any of the Royal Family was

“flipped upside down”, and, unlike most couples, he and

Meghan had spent their first dates in 2017 at home.

He said: “We got to spend an enormous amount of time just the two of us.

“There were no distractio­ns, and that was great.

“It was an amazing thing. We went from zero to 60 in the first two months.”

During the interview, Harry said media attention in the

UK had created a “really difficult environmen­t” that was “destroying my mental health”.

SERVICE

He said he did “what any husband or father would do” by moving away with Meghan and their son Archie, now 21 months old. The interview was filmed on February 5, days after the Prince’s friends said Harry would “fight” to keep his military patronages.

On the show, Harry said his life would “always be about public service” adding that Meghan had “signed up for that” too.

He spoke as though he knew they would lose their patronages, which was confirmed last week.

Talking about the Royal Family, Harry said: “Whatever decisions are made on that side, I will never walk away. I’ll always be contributi­ng.

“My life is public service, so wherever I am in the world, it’s going to be the same thing.”

The Mirror can reveal that in his conversati­on with the Queen, Harry’s grandmothe­r was sympatheti­c.

A source close to Harry said: “She has seen him struggle with his posi

Whatever decision is made on that side, I will never walk away PRINCE HARRY TALKING ABOUT THE ROYAL FAMILY

tion in the family and had always had a great deal of affection and sympathy for him. Harry explained he had no regrets about his decision to step back from his role within the family.

“He went further to detail thoughts about his future role.

“He described it as being free, but he knows he has a duty to the family and he reiterated his promise to never do anything to embarrass them.

“This is all about moving on, it was a very harmonious conversati­on between a caring grandmothe­r and her grandson.”

In the 17-minute film on The Late Late Show, which was not advertised before being screened in the US on Thursday, It kicks off with Corden, 42,

his

picking up Harry, 36, in the tour bus, ordering the Prince to pay the fare before hopping on.

Harry tells him: “You know us royals, we don’t carry cash.”

He then reveals it is his first time on an open-top bus because “we’re not really allowed to”.

Harry drinks tea from a china cup as Corden points out the homes of Friends star David Schwimmer and the Die Hard Bruce Willis.

Harry talks of Zoom calls with Prince Philip and the Queen, and says his 99-year-old grandfathe­r did not know how to end calls so he just slammed down the laptop lid.

In another light-hearted moment, Harry raps the theme to The Fresh

legend

Prince of Bel-air outside the mansion where the 1990s Will Smith sitcom was filmed.

Corden then introduces Harry to the owner of the house, joking about making an offer for the place. Corden Facetimes Meghan, 39, who calls her husband “Haz”, and tells him not to buy the

 ??  ?? JIBE Spencer Matthews
JIBE Spencer Matthews
 ??  ?? GARDA PROBE Mulhuddart after getaway car found
FORTUNATE Gang shooting victim Lee Boylan
GARDA PROBE Mulhuddart after getaway car found FORTUNATE Gang shooting victim Lee Boylan
 ??  ?? FREE RIDE On bus with TV host Corden
SCREEN STAR Meghan joins in on video call
IT’S A RAP At Fresh Prince of Bel-air house
I MASK YOU Meghan gets called up
FREE RIDE On bus with TV host Corden SCREEN STAR Meghan joins in on video call IT’S A RAP At Fresh Prince of Bel-air house I MASK YOU Meghan gets called up
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