33 - The murder of Robert Holohan: Broken Trust

Mens Rea: A true crime podcast

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True Crime, Society & Culture

4.7 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 20 January 2019

⏱️ 73 minutes

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Summary

On the afternoon of the 6th January, 2005 Robert Holohan rode his brand new silver BMX bike down his drive and out onto the roads of Ballyedmond, a townland north of Midleton in rural East Cork. When Robert didn't return home that evening, and had not answered his new phone, a search began that would bring people from all over the country to the area to volunteer to look for the 11 year old, alongside the Gardai and the army. But, just over a week later, Roberts body was found in a deep ditch, caught up in brambles, alongside Inch Strand. He was 12 miles from his home. The Garda investigation worked quickly, and it soon became apparent that Robert had not gotten far from home, before he was killed. The featured promo this week is from our friends over at Twisted Britain! Head on over and give them a listen! Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! If you would like to support the podcast, head on over to Patreon.com. Theme Music: Quinn’s Song: The Dance Begins by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by Sources: Ralph Reigel, Afraid of the Dark (Dublin: O'Brien Press, 2006) Purchase here Bledar Xhemali, et al “ Sudden death from Vagal Inhibition” in European Scientific Journal vo9, no 30 (October 2013) http://eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/viewFile/1965/1907 Conor Galalgher, “Legal opinion: Victim Impact statement system is flawed” in The Irish Times https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/legal-opinion-victim-impact-statement-system-is-flawed-1.2373197 (9 October 2015) “The Wayne O'Donoghue story – In his own words” in Magill https://magill.ie/archive/wayne-odonoghue-story-his-own-words (31 January 2008) "Parents of Robert Holohan 'seek truth' at inquest” in The Irish Times https://www.irishtimes.com/news/parents-of-robert-holohan-seek-truth-at-inquest-1.796308 (12 September 2006) “O'Donoghue freed after serving three years” from RTE.ie https://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0116/98293-holohanr/ (16 January 2008) Vivion Kilfeather, “Court rejects appeal against O'Donoghue jail senetnece” in The Irish Examiner https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/icrime/court-rejects-appeal-against-odonoghue-jail-sentence-16128.html (19 October 2006) “Holohan's mother vows to appeal O'Donoghue's sentence” in The Irish Examiner https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/holohans-mother-vows-to-appeal-odonoghue-sentence-241324.html (24 January 2006) Ann O'Loughlin, “Allegations in victim impact statement were totally false, says counsel” in The Irish Independent https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/allegations-in-victim-statement-were-totally-false-says-counsel-26376751.html (28 July 2006) “Sentence objective 'totally frustrated' by Majella” in The Irish Independent https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/sentencing-objective-totally-frustrated-by-majella-26324171.html (11 October 2007) Director of Public Prosecutions -v- O'Donoghue [2006] IECCA 134 available here: http://www.courts.ie/Judgments.nsf/bce24a8184816f1580256ef30048ca50/199d98ef9ccbd3398025720b004d2bf7?OpenDocument Ralph Riegel, “Family appalled as child-killer Wayne's new life revealed” in The Irish Independent https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/family-appalled-as-childkiller-waynes-new-life-is-revealed-26582412.html (16 November 2009) Ballyedmond Townland https://www.townlands.ie/cork/barrymore/templenacarriga/templenacarriga/ballyedmond/

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to the mens rea podcast and this is the story of Robert Houlahan. Oh, January is a strange time in Ireland. Once the rush and excitement of Christmas and New Year's
0:45.6	wears off and we all make our ways back to work and school, the rough weather hits.
0:51.8	It's a month of where you can expect it to be simultaneously windy,
0:56.0	freezing cold and raining for the most part, and the darkness of winter, although lifting after the solstice, is still with us.
1:06.5	The dreariness means that what little daylight we have is often obscured with clouds, and it might seem like we never get beyond the very beginnings
1:17.1	of the lightning of the day before the night comes again.
1:21.3	People forget how far north we are. We're on just about the same latitude as Newfoundland.
1:27.0	Just as Christmas and New Year's here is nearly magical, January is like a nationwide hangover, with everybody working towards their good intentions for the new year and the long awaited payday at the end of the month.
1:42.0	In January of 2005, Robert Hulahan was 11 years old and was not at all
1:49.2	burdened by the Granus that had settled over the grown-ups around him. He had a new bike from Christmas,
1:56.5	a BMX, and had won a medal in hurling at the very beginning of that month. He was a happy, sporty kid and was into all things
2:06.4	hurling and horses. He was the eldest in his house with two younger siblings, Emma
2:11.8	8 and Harry 4.
2:13.6	He was a confident and happy kid, though his parents would later say
2:18.1	that he was afraid of the dark.
2:20.7	His family lived in Bally Edmond, a townland just north of Middleton, County Cork.
2:26.0	The area is bordered by a small river surrounded by trees and sits between two golf courses, all green fields and hedgerows, just beyond the busy town.
2:37.6	At about 2 p.m. on the 4th of January, nearly a week before all the kids would have to contemplate going back to school, Robert jumped onto his BMX.
2:49.0	He adored this bike and had been seen polishing up its silver paint the day before.
2:55.0	It was perfect for the small lanes and the country terrain around his house.
3:00.0	He also had his mobile phone in his pocket. He'd bought it after Christmas with the money he'd been given.
3:07.0	A Nokia 3200. Well, he shared it with his ma'am, but it was his phone really.
	...

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