Judge warns social media users identifying teens charged over Alex Coughlan attack

Tom Tuite

A judge has issued a warning to social media users about identifying two teenage boys charged with attacking Alex Coughlan, who died three days after being severely injured in Blanchardstown.

The Director of Public Prosecutions is also to be asked to demand that social media platforms take down posts that breach the rights of the 16-year-old boys, as juveniles, to anonymity, Judge Susan Fay heard on Wednesday.

Coughlan, who was 37, suffered serious injuries after he was assaulted on Mill Road at around 4.20 pm on May 17th and was found unconscious.

He was brought to the hospital in a critical condition, where he was pronounced dead on May 20th.

Shortly after he passed away, gardaí charged two boys in connection with the incident.

The pair, both aged 16, are accused of causing serious harm to Mr Coughlan at Mill Road, under section 4 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.

They were also charged with robbing him of his bank cards and a €300 gold ring.

Neither youth has indicated a plea.

Both were refused bail last week and remanded in custody to the Oberstown Children Detention Campus.

The boys, who cannot be named because they are juveniles, faced their second hearing when they appeared at the Dublin Children's Court on Wednesday.

Their cases were heard separately, with each teen being accompanied to the proceedings by a solicitor and a parent.

Judge Fay noted from Garda Adam Kiernan that directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) have yet to be received.

Video link

The boys consented, through their solicitors, to being further remanded in continuing custody to appear again on June 24th via video link.

Solicitor Brian Keenan, acting for one of them, submitted that it was clear the case was realistically heading in one direction, the Central Criminal Court.

He said that when a decision is made as to the actual charge the boy will face, the matter will come under the juvenile protocol.

He was referring to a recently introduced procedure to expedite specific serious cases involving young people under 18.

The protocol sets a strict 12-month time limit to complete the trial process from the date of charging.

His client did not address the court.

Keenan said the State needed to get the DPP's direction as soon as possible on the actual substantive charge.

Garda Adam Kiernan said the file was being compiled for the director. He added that presently neither a murder nor a manslaughter charge was before the court, and the protocol had not come into effect in this case yet.

Keenan raised a second issue, saying "there have been significant concerns in relation to my client's identity being published online".

He clarified that this related to members of the public on social media rather than traditional news media.

He also said a picture had been posted "across a number of social media platforms", and that gardaí were aware of this..

The solicitor pointed out possible breaches of sections 252 and 51 of the Children Act, which can result in penalties and criminal sanctions.

He asked the judge to deliver a warning about breaking the Act's anonymity provisions.

He added that separately, he will ask the DPP to serve the appropriate orders on social media companies calling for the removal of such material.

Keenan said he believed gardaí were supporting the application.

Judge Fay stated that the young person before the court was a child, had a right not to be identified, and was entitled to the presumption of innocence.

She also warned that previously, when children before the courts were identified publicly, it was taken very seriously by gardaí and the courts.

Solicitor Mark O'Sullivan raised the same issues for the co-defendant, and the judge repeated the warning.

X-Ray

She also agreed to a defence request that the teenager could receive urgent medical attention at an A&E for a hand injury. That teen spoke only to say he had seen a doctor in custody who had told him he needed an X-Ray.

At last week's bail hearing, Garda Sergeant Emma Ryan gave evidence that Mr Coughlan screamed for help on his knees, crying and pleading during the incident.

Sergeant Ryan alleged that part of the "completely unprovoked" attack was filmed on a phone, which has been seized.

Coughlan, who lived in Blanchardstown and worked for an insurance firm, had worked in sales for companies Sky and PayPal.

He attended Castleknock Community College. On Monday, around 500 people gathered for a vigil in his memory at the place where he was injured.

Coughlan will be reposing at his mother, Brigid's, house on Friday evening before removal on Saturday morning to Staffords Funeral Home in Ballyfermot for a celebration of his life at 10.45 am, followed by a private cremation at Glasnevin Crematorium.

A fundraiser set up to help his family with funeral expenses received just over €20,000 within days.