Limerick man to be sentenced for brutal filmed attack that went viral online
Darragh Manning, 25, with an address at Clyde Hill Mews, St Alphonsus Street, Limerick, and a man referred to in court as “Mr X” set upon a man in a filmed attack at an apartment in Dooradoyle on January 21, 2025.
In the video, the victim of the attack was shown curled into a ball on the ground while he was assaulted and “pistol-whipped”.
The man was repeatedly hit, and was held at knife point by Manning and gunpoint by Mr X. Over the course of the violent assault, the man was aggressively shouted at, threatened, and called “a rat”.
In a video compilation of the evidence, a man can be heard shouting “I’ll jump on top of you”, while the victim was cowering on the floor. Another clip played showed Manning filming the victim as he was held at gunpoint, and then laughing.
When alerted gardaí arrived at the crime scene to conduct a welfare check on the victim, the assaulted man told them that he was at his apartment at 2pm, making cocoa, when he heard glass breaking outside.
The victim said his window was broken, and the men came in on top of him. The victim told gardaí that the men were off their heads, and that he thought he’d be shot.
The victim told gardaí: “They made me give them my phone, took my passport, and stabbed me in the leg with a sword”.
“I was sure I was dead,” he stated. The court heard that the victim felt frightened, and that he had been sent the viral videos that he was featured in.
Prosecuting Barrister John O’Sullivan, confirming the facts of the case with Detective Garda Darragh Conroy at a sentencing hearing, told the court that the victim is known to gardaí.
The victim declined to supply the court with a Victim Impact Statement.
Darragh Manning has pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary, and within that charge, has accepted that he threatened to kill or cause serious harm to the victim, committed an assault causing harm, and caused criminal damage.
It was relayed in court that a ballistics expert had examined the airgun, and said that while it was an offensive weapon, it shoots pellets rather than bullets.
Mr O’Sullivan told the court that the victim had been under the impression it was a real gun.
The court heard that Manning has 89 previous convictions, including an escape from lawful custody, assault causing harm, criminal damage, burglary, possession of stolen property, possession of drugs, multiple unauthorised takings of a mechanically propelled vehicle, the unauthorised taking of a pedal cycle, damaging property, possession of knives and other articles, and a number of thefts.
In a plea of mitigation, Barrister Lorcan Connolly said that Manning is somebody who has been using drugs for a good number of years.
The barrister said Manning told gardaí when he was arrested: “I do stupid stuff when I’m on tablets”.
Mr Connolly said that in the video clips Manning had glazed eyes. He described Manning to the judge as “not a sophisticated seasoned criminal”.
Judge Colin Daly took the case into consideration and adjourned the case for sentencing to a date in July.
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