Smirking gangsters jailed after they called judge a ‘sl*t’ | World | News
Jay Hennessy Jr and Dean Fitzsimons (right) were jailed for their part in a brutal attack (Image: Irish Mirror)
A smirking gangster who called a judge a “sl*t” in court has been jailed along with four other thugs after a brutal attack in Ireland. Dean Fitzsimons, levelled the outrageous insult at Judge Paula Murphy during a court appearance in February.
Fitzsimons, 26, was one of four men sentenced to between three and eight and a half years at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin after a man was beaten, stabbed and branded with the word “rat”. Gang leader, Jason Hennessy Jr., 29, Brandon Hennessy, 24, Kenneth Fitzsimons, 46, and Dean Fitzsimons pleaded guilty to assault causing harm.
Dean Fitzsimons called a judge a ‘sl*t’ at a previous hearing (Image: Paul Healy)
The four had initially been charged by Gardaí in Ireland with more serious offences, but the victim, Barry Moore, 36, refused to testify against them from fear of reprisals, the Irish Mirror reports.
A fifth man, Devon Hennessy, 30, admitted falsely imprisoning and attacking the victim for the purpose of furthering the activities of a crime gang.
Mr Moore was attacked after turning up at Jason Hennessy Jr.’s door in Blanchardstown to buy a tracksuit on February 12 last year.
The victim went into a shed in the back where he met Devon Hennessy and Jason Hennessy Jr. Brandon Hennessy and Kenneth Fitzsimons then joined them.
Jason Hennessy smashed Mr Moore’s phone out of his hand and punched him in the jaw before Devon Hennessy lashed out, smacking him in the head.
The court heard Jason Hennessy Jr. shouted at him: “You know what this is about. I want the truth.”
Jay Hennessy Jr. (left) and Devon Hennessy’s dad, Jay Hennessy Sr. (centre), was killed (Image: Paul Healy)
Kenneth Fitzsimons then fetched a steel bar from the garden and walloped Mr Moore on the legs and his right arm.
Brandon Hennessy grabbed the bar and started hammering Mr Moore. Devon Hennessy told him to stop or he would kill the man.
Jason Hennessy Jr. left and came back to the shed with a camping stove and cattle iron with the word “rat” on it.
He heated the iron and branded him on the forehead, stomach and back.
Screaming in pain, Mr Moore pleaded to be freed. The court heard Brandon Hennessy suggesting the gang should rape him with a stick.
Dean Fitzsimmons held the burning hot iron against the side of Mr Moore’s head before Jason Hennessy Jr. ordered him to get up and let him leave after the ordeal, which lasted over an hour.
Kenneth Fitzsimons struck the victim with a steel bar (Image: Paul Healy)
At the time of the attack there was a feud between two rival gangs, sparked by the murder of Jason Hennessy Sr., who was shot dead in Blanchardstown on Christmas Eve in 2023. Hennessy Sr. was the father of Devon, Brandon and Jason Jr.
The court heard that Jason Hennessy Jr. felt remorse for the attack on Mr Moore while his father’s death had “led to a great deal of anger” in Brandon Hennessy, whose counsel said wanted to apologise to the victim.
Dean Fitzsimons also apologised to Mr Moore while Kenneth Fitzsimons felt “great shame” and said sorry for his part in the attack.
Ms Justice Karen O’Connor accepted the gang’s remorse, but said it had come late in the day. RTE quoted her as saying: “The facts of the case are shocking. Words are not sufficient to describe the horror which bypasses any notion of humanity.”
Brandon Hennessy, of Sheephill Avenue, Blanchardstown, was sentenced to six years. Devon Hennessy, Edgewood Lawns, Corduff, was sentenced to three years. Jason Hennessy Jr., also of Sheephill Avenue, was sentenced to eight and a half years.
Dean Fitzsimons, of Castlecurragh Vale, Mulhuddart, was sentenced to eight and a half years while his father Kenneth Fitzsimons, of the same address, was sentenced to eight years.
