One of the two men accused of murdering Kieran Quilligan, 47, said his co-accused drove him and Mr Quilligan to Little Island where Mr Quilligan got out and walked down a lane to buy drugs, and that this was the last time he saw him.
Detective Garda Joe Crowley told the murder trial today that he spoke to the accused man, Luke Taylor, on October 6, 2023, and that the accused told him and Garda Kevin Roche that he had information about then missing person Mr Quilligan, saying that he knew people were talking about him being the last person seen with him.
The detective said that Mr Taylor said he and Mr Quilligan walked to the steps beside St Fin Barre’s cathedral and they both got into the back seat of the car driven by co- accused Niall Long.
The detective said that Luke Taylor said Niall Long then drove the three of them to Little Island and dropped Mr Quilligan at the top of a laneway and told him that he could meet a man to buy drugs down that laneway.
Luke Taylor then told the detective that Niall Long drove him (Taylor) to his girlfriend’s apartment at Jacob’s Island.
The detective said Luke Taylor told him, “that was the last time he saw Kieran Quilligan. I asked him how Kieran Quilligan was when he was with him. He said he was fine — a bit stoned but fine.”
This evidence was given today on the second day of the murder trial at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork.
Garda Kevin Roche gave a similar account of this conversation with Luke Taylor.
Mr Taylor, aged 27, formerly of Cherry Lawn, Blackrock, Cork, and Niall Long, aged 33, formerly of St Michael’s Close, Mahon, Cork, are on trial at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork, facing the same charge of murder.
The murder count, which each man denies, states that on a date unknown between September 1, 2023, and January 29, 2024, at an unknown location within the State, in the District Court area of Cork city, he did murder Kieran Quilligan, contrary to common law.
Another conversation with Mr Taylor a month earlier was described today by another Garda witness.
Garda James Bird was on duty in the public office of Anglesea St Garda Station at 4.40pm on September 8, 2023, when Mr Taylor arrived at the hatch. Mr Quilligan’s partner had not seen him since around 8.30pm on September 1, 2023.
“Luke Taylor called at the hatch. He said he was concerned about the welfare of his friend Kieran Quilligan and he wanted to assist gardaí,” Garda Bird testified.
Garda Bird said today that he invited Mr Taylor into a consultation room at Anglesea St Garda Station after the young man offered his assistance. Sergeant John Gleeson was notified of Mr Taylor’s arrival and he also went to the room.
LAST KNOWN MOVEMENTS
Garda Bird said: “I asked him to recall his last known movements. He said they left his [Kieran Quilligan’s] apartment at Anderson’s Quay with the intention of meeting a group known as ‘the blacks’ to obtain crack cocaine for personal use, and also arrangements were made to go towards the train station to get a quantity of cocaine.
“He said that on that day they had both consumed a large quantity of prescription drugs. As they moved on to meet this group, Mr Quilligan was told [by text] that the location was changed from Morrison’s Island to the Electric pub on South Mall and the white bridge [Nano Nagle bridge] at Grand Parade.
“Mr Taylor said he believed tablets were beginning to take effect and his memory was becoming hazy — he could not remember much more until he woke up in his girlfriend’s apartment at Jacob’s Island the next morning. He said he had €200 less in his pocket than he had the previous night.”
On the same day as the conversation with Garda Bird, Garda Stuart Crichton testified that he went to apartments at Jacob’s Island to talk to Luke Taylor, on September 8, 2023.
“Before he said anything I noticed he was shaking like a leaf.
“I asked him why he was shaking so much and he said he suffers from panic attacks,” Garda Crichton said.
The witness said Mr Taylor said that on September 1 he walked as far as the white bridge with Mr Quilligan and did not know where he went after that.
Sgt Katrine Tansley said she met Mr Long by arrangement at Blackrock Garda Station on September 19, 2023. Asked if he knew Kieran Quilligan, he replied: “I don’t know him, I know of him. I don’t know him; he was one of the people who buys drugs.”
Asked if there was any issue between himself and Mr Quilligan, he said “No”. He said he drove his mother’s white Toyota Rav 4 from time to time but could not say if he drove it on September 1, 2023. He said he had a personality disorder and that memory loss was part of that. The trial continues before Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford and a jury of 10 men and two women.
