ATTACKED YOUNG MAN OVER FALSE PAEDOPHILE CLAIMS

Evening Herald, 13 March 2007 by Sonya McLean

[This is the inevitable outcome of more than a decade's ranting about "paedophile priests" - a lynch mob attack on a Chinese student who is wrongly suspected of having molested two young girls. The article stresses that the attack "was not racially motivated". What is the point of this observation? Why is racial hatred considered less acceptable than the anti-clerical variety?]

Two men who forced their way into a neighbour?s house and beat up a Chinese student who lived there, because they wrongly believed he abducted two nine-year old girls, have been remanded on bail pending sentence.

Daniel Fagan (28) and Jason Atkinson (32), both of Kildare Park, Crumlin, Dublin 12, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Mr Ailikamu Helili (now 23) and violent disorder in the house on March 12, 2007. Atkinson also admitted to trespass and possession of a wooden bat on the date.

Judge Katherine Delahunt said she had a number of testimonials to consider and adjourned the case to a date later this month.

Detective Garda Eamonn Maloney told prosecutor Garnet Orange that Mr Helili was making dinner when the two girls called to the house. They followed him into the house and he had no issue with this as they were frequent callers.

Some time later a number of neighbours arrived at the house having formed the opinion that "something untoward had happened". Six of them forced their way in, cornered Mr Helili and started to attack him.

The woman who owned the house later told Gardai that Mr Helili was hunched down while kicks and punches were thrown at him and he was beaten with a large wooden bat.

Atkinson, who used a bat during the assault, came down to the garda station by arrangement and expressed remorse for the incident but made no admissions.

Det Gda Maloney said the student still lives in Ireland and plans to stay here for four years. He now understands that the attack was not racially motivated.

Det Gda Maloney with Atkinson?s defence lawyer, Remy Farrell that ?mass hysteria? developed after the two girls had gone missing for a number of hours and a suggestion was made that something ?untoward had happened them?.

It was accepted that there was absolutely no truth to this and that the girls may have said it themselves to cover up the fact that they hadn?t reported back to their families that afternoon.

Det Gda Maloney agreed that Atkinson said during interview that it was ?a shameful thing to do? and that if anything had happened the girls the right thing to do would be to report it to Gardai.

He accepted that Atkinson had a heroin addiction some time ago which led to his criminal convictions but that he has since turned his life around.

Det Gda Maloney agreed with Mr Bernard Condon BL., defending Fagan, that one of the girls told him she had been held in the house against her will. There was no truth in this but the story took on a life of its own.

Mr Farrell said the offence could be seen as an act of ?vigilantism?.

Mr Condon said Fagan accepted that he was entirely in the wrong to jump to such conclusions. He had E 500 in court as an expression of his remorse but Mr Condon said given more time he may be able to have more money before the court.

He said his reaction was completely out of character, considering his lack of previous convictions.