Hennessy brothers apologise to 'RAT' branding victim, court hears
Eoin Reynolds
Five men have apologised for their roles in an assault in which the victim was beaten with a metal bar, threatened with being raped using a stick and branded with the word 'RAT' seven times on his face and torso.
A lawyer for one of the five, Jason Hennessy (29), told the three-judge Special Criminal Court that his client bears "no ill-will" towards the victim, Barry Moore (34), and wants Mr Moore to be able to get on with his life.
Sgt Emma Ryan on Tuesday detailed the garda investigation into the attack and told the court that Mr Moore declined to give evidence at a trial for four of the accused late last year "owing to the fact that he was afraid".
Garnet Orange SC, for the prosecution, said Mr Moore did not want any involvement in the sentence hearing and had not made a victim impact statement.
Sgt Ryan told Mr Orange that the victim is still recovering, remains in "quite a bit of pain" and has had skin grafts to help heal his burns.
During the assault, he suffered a fractured elbow from a blow of an iron bar and multiple small stab wounds to his legs. She said gardaí found the cattle branding iron used on Mr Moore in an area of waste ground.
Sgt Ryan said that at the time of the assault, there was a feud between the Hennessys and another organised crime gang based in Finglas. Jason Hennessy referenced two members of that gang when demanding that Mr Moore "tell the truth" about what he said to those individuals.
Jason referenced the feud again when he demanded to know who had set him up for an attack while he was at a Costa coffee shop, Sgt Ryan said.
Brothers Jason Hennessy and Brandon Hennessy (22), of Sheephill Avenue, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15 and Kenneth Fitzsimons (45) and his son Dean Fitzsimons (25) of Castlecurragh Vale, Mulhuddart, Dublin were originally charged with various offences, including causing serious harm and false imprisonment, both of which carry potential life sentences.
After Mr Moore refused to give evidence last year, the State accepted pleas of guilty to assault causing harm, an offence that carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.
Before it became apparent that Mr Moore was not going to give evidence, Devon Hennessy, of Edgewood Lawns, Corduff, Dublin 15 pleaded guilty to falsely imprisoning Mr Moore and to assisting a criminal organisation to inflict serious harm on Mr Moore.
Mark Lynam SC, for Devon, today told the court that his client was the least culpable of all the accused and should be given a lesser sentence despite pleading guilty to more serious offences.
He said Devon had intervened to prevent others inflicting violence on Mr Moore and from an early stage was urging his co-defendants to let the victim leave.
Jason Hennessy Snr, the father of Devon, Brandon and Jason, was shot dead in Browne's Steakhouse in Blanchardstown on Christmas Eve, 2023. The gunman, Tristan Sherry, was beaten to death at the scene.
Mr Lynam said the feud that led to their father's fatal shooting had also led to a number of attempts on Devon Hennessy's life, giving rise to "anger, paranoia and fear".
Mr Lynam said his client pleaded guilty after being given an ultimatum by his partner and, on release from custody, he intends to get a job and break his association with "bad influences".
John Fitzgerald SC, for Jason Hennessy, said his father's killing had a "considerable effect on him". Counsel said his client feels remorse for his role and wanted to express that to the victim. He wants to be a good father, counsel said, and doesn't wish to be defined by this assault or by how he is portrayed in the media.
John Berry SC, for Brandon Hennessy, said his client is the youngest of the offenders. He was convicted of violent disorder arising out of his father's killing and was on bail for that offence at the time of the assault on Mr Moore.
His father's violent death "led to a great deal of anger in him," counsel said, but he has spent one year in custody "reflecting on where that anger has brought him". Mr Berry said his client wants to apologise to Mr Moore for the "pain and suffering" and for taking up court and garda time.
Michael Bowman SC for Dean Fitzsimons said his client has been left "devastated" by the passing of his mother while he has been in custody. He apologised to Mr Moore and said he wants to "turn his life around".
Keith Spencer BL for Kenneth Fitzsimons said it is a "source of great shame" for his client that he has contributed to the "cycle of criminality" by participating in the offence with his son. He also apologised to Mr Moore.
Ms Justice Karen O'Connor, sitting with Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Fiona Lydon adjourned sentencing to March 25th.
Trial
At the trial last year, Det Gda Stuart Gleeson said he interviewed Mr Moore on February 13th, 2025, the day after the assault.
In his account to Gda Gleeson, Mr Moore said he called to Jason Hennessy's home in Sheephill Avenue to buy a tracksuit. He arrived at about 6:15pm and entered through a rear gate into a shed at the back of the property where he met Devon and Jason Hennessy.
He said they chatted for about 15 minutes, during which time Brandon Hennessy and Ken Fitzsimons arrived. As Mr Moore was showing Ken Fitzsimons a photograph on his phone, he said Jason Hennessy Jr 'smashed' the phone out of his hands and boxed him.
He said: "It was a punch to my jaw, I was stunned. I asked Jason, what did you do that for? I was after falling on the ground and Devon jumped up and began to punch me in the head."
He said Jason Hennessy Jr struck him and shouted: "You know what this is about, I want the truth." Ken Fitzsimons, he said, went to the garden and came back with a 'breaker bar', which Mr Moore described as "five feet of solid steel".
He said Ken Fitzsimons "walloped" him seven or eight times on the legs with the bar before striking his right arm, breaking it.
He said Jason Hennessy Jr told him to "tell us the truth" and asked what he, Mr Moore, had said to two named people. Mr Moore told them he hadn't seen the two people for more than a year and begged to be allowed to leave.
Brandon Hennessy, he said, "came in like a mad man, screaming at me". He said Brandon said he had previously lied to Mr Moore when he told him that they [the Hennessys] didn't have bullet proof windows at the top of the house.
He said Brandon told him: "I told you on purpose because I knew you would go back and tell the lads."
Mr Moore said Brandon took the breaker bar and struck him repeatedly over the body. Devon Hennessy, he said, told Brandon to stop because he would kill him. "If you don't like it, go out the back," Mr Moore alleged Brandon said to his brother.
Jason Hennessy Jr left and returned to the shed, he said, with a blue camping stove and a "cattle marker" with 'RAT' on it. He said Jason Hennessy Jr used the gas stove to heat the marker.
"I was pleading with all four of them to let me leave, but they wouldn't," he said. Mr Moore said Dean Fitzsimons then entered through the back door of the shed and said: "I've been waiting on you," before picking up the breaker bar and hitting Mr Moore. Ken Fitzsimons, he said, picked up an axe and struck him with the blunt side.
Dean Fitzsimons, he said, threatened to cut off his ears with a Stanley knife before "waterboarding" him using a towel and a bucket of water.
Mr Moore said: "I thought I was going to drown. I couldn't breathe. I thought I was going to be murdered." Mr Moore alleged that Dean took the towel away and, standing above him, told him to tell the truth or he would "leave in a body bag".
"I kept saying I knew nothing and begging, let me go," he said. Jason Hennessy Jr, he said, took the cattle marker and used it on his stomach first. Mr Moore said: "I was screaming, I never felt such pain before. I was pleading for mercy."
Dean Fitzsimons, he said, put the Stanley knife to his ear but Jason Hennessy Jr said, "not yet" and started beating Mr Moore before tying him up with a dog lead.
When he was tied, Mr Moore alleged they branded him on his back and while Devon asked them to stop, they kept beating him. He said that Jason Hennessy Jr insisted that he would not be allowed to leave until telling the truth. Mr Moore said he told them: "I can't talk because I don't know anything."
He said Jason Hennessy Jr wanted to know who set him up at Costa Coffee and pressed the hot iron against his head before placing it back on the stove.
Brandon and Dean, he said, held his arms while Jason Hennessy Jr branded him on the forehead, holding it for seven or eight seconds. "I was screaming with pain, pleading to let me go," Mr Moore said.
He said he heard Brandon saying they should pull down his tracksuit and "rape him with a stick" before Dean stood on his back and "danced" on his neck, choking him. Devon Hennessy, he said, asked them to let Mr Moore go.
Mr Moore said Dean "rammed" the iron into the right side of his head for seven or eight seconds before Jason Henessy Jr told him to get up and allowed him to leave. He recalled stumbling to his car and struggling to start the engine. He called to his father's house nearby and was taken to hospital by ambulance.
He added: "I was kept against my will. I did not look for this. My face and body are destroyed. They held me hostage and beat me for over one hour. I thought I would die several times. I hope these markings are not permanent."
