A murderer who bragged he punched his victim “like Conor McGregor” has argued his trial jury should not have heard the reference as it brought “a degree of baggage” which indicated “toxic masculinity”.
Maurice Boland’s lawyers submitted that while his trial was taking place, McGregor was involved in much publicised civil proceedings in the High Court in which a jury ultimately found him civilly liable for the rape of Nikita Hand.
They said that while the jury was considering the facts in Boland’s case, there was “an ongoing media circus” around the civil trial and the publicity and discussion led to people developing “opinions and conclusions” about McGregor.
The jury at the civil trial determined McGregor raped Hand in a hotel room in December 2018 and awarded her just under €250,000 in damages.
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Boland’s counsel, Michael Bowman, told the Court of Appeal on Tuesday that, as a result of the civil proceedings, McGregor’s name brought “a degree of baggage communicative of toxic masculinity” and “bravado”.
The State, however, has argued the evidence was “eminently admissible” and the trial judge made no error in allowing it to go before the jury.
Boland was jailed for life by Judge Eileen Creedon in December 2024 after he was convicted of murdering Cian Gallagher (26) following two Central Criminal Court trials. His first trial in April the same year ended in a jury disagreement.
The attack happened on November 2nd, into the early hours of November 3rd, 2022, and Gallagher died in hospital eight days later.
Boland (39) of Bridgeview Close, Tallow, Co Waterford, had pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Gallagher on Barrack Street in Tallow.
His lawyers had argued he was guilty of unlawful killing, not murder, because they said there was no evidence of his intent to kill or cause serious injury.
The pathology evidence in the trial showed Gallagher died from injuries sustained when he fell and banged his head on the ground after Boland punched him.
However, prosecution counsel Bernard Condon told the jury the victim did not “spontaneously fall”. He was pursued by Boland who had earlier in the night been drunkenly threatening to “beat the sh*t out” of a patron at a bar, and “smash his face in”.
Following the assault, Boland bragged to three young men who arrived on the scene that he had hit Gallagher “like Conor McGregor in the UFC”.
The Court of Appeal viewed CCTV footage of the attack and heard submissions from both sides before reserving judgment in the case.
