“They savagely beat him, so it would be evil, it has to be an evil person that would do that”

The father of Dale Creighton, who died on New Year’s Day in 2014 after he was attacked on a footbridge in Tallaght, has said those who took part in the attack are evil and that he will never be able to forgive them for what they did.

Speaking on Claire Byrne Live on RTE One last night Darren Creighton said the family were not even able to touch their son in his coffin because of his injuries sustained during the 14-minute assault.

Darren Creighton, father of Dale Creighton, reacts to the sentencing today of the seven people involved in his son’s death pic.twitter.com/bmXjwRYBVV

— RTÉ ClaireByrneLive (@ClaireByrneLive) January 16, 2017

Mr Creighton said: “How could you forgive someone for doing that?

“Especially after watching the footage, it’s even worse because I had seen the footage.

“I knew they beat him, I seen him black and blue, it was that bad we couldn’t even touch him in the coffin, it was horrendous.

“We will never get closure, but we have to move on. His sister, Danielle and his mother, what can we do, you have to move on, we have no choice.

“I don’t think we will ever get any closure.”

Five men, all originally from Tallaght, were sentenced to between three years and seven and a half years for their part in the attack, while another man received a suspended sentence for possession of a knife.

The woman involved received five years for violent conduct, with four of those years suspended.

In court yesterday, Ms Justice Deidre Murphy said those found guilty were not evil or even bad people, but described the attack as prolonged and vicious.

When this was put to Mr Creighton he said: “To put it mildly, they are evil because there is no one who would do that to another human being.

“I have watched the CCTV footage on the bridge and […] they stood all over him, they dragged him up and down steps and they repeatedly hit him.

“They savagely beat him, so it would be evil, it has to be an evil person that would do that, no normal person would do that.

“We seen him, he was unrecognisable, they had been beaten him to a pulp, his head and all was squashed in where they had stood on him.” 

Graham Palmer (26) of Park Avenue in Portarlington, County Laois was jailed for 10 years, with five years suspended, while Ross Callery (23) of Gortlum Cottages in Brittas, County Dublin was jailed for 10 years, with four years suspended, for his part in the manslaughter.

David Burke (28) of Beechpark in Collinstown, County Westmeath was jailed for 10 years, with two and a half years suspended, while Gerard Stevens (27) of Grosvenor Square in Rathmines was jailed for 10 years, with seven years suspended, for his role in the manslaughter.

Jason Beresford (23) of Castledermot in County Kildare was jailed for 10 years, with four years suspended, for his role in the attack.

Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy sentenced Aisling Burke (23) of Beechpark in Collinstown, County Westmeath to five years with four years suspended for violent conduct in relation to the attack on Dale Creighton.

James Reid (26) of Glen Aoibhinn in Gorey, County Wexford, who was last to be sentenced, was handed a two-year jail term, suspended in its entirety, for possession of a knife at the scene where Dale Creighton died.