Killer back behind bars after litany of violent offences including assaulting his own mother two weeks after release

A man who “brutally, viciously and inhumanely” killed a father of two, leaving him to die on a rural road, is back in jail after carrying out a series of violent offences in the North just two weeks after being released from prison.

Joseph Hillen (29) with previous addresses at Glendasha Road, Forkhill, Co Armagh, and Foughilletra Road, Jonesborough, Co Armagh, was convicted by a majority jury verdict in October 2018 of the manslaughter of father-of-two Martin Mulligan (53) near Dundalk, Co Louth, in September 2015.

In 2018, the Central Criminal Court heard that Mr Mulligan died after suffering two stab wounds, one to the abdomen that severed the aorta and another “through and through” wound to his right thigh that also severed an artery.

Mr Mulligan, who was a coal-delivery man and a taxi driver, was discovered a short distance from his taxi at around 3am on a rural road at Carn More, Balriggan, Dundalk, Co Louth, on September 28, 2015.

Hillen was released from Mountjoy prison on March 30 of last year after serving five years and 11 months of a sentence of nine years with the final 12 months suspended.

Two weeks later, Hillen went on a rampage in the early hours of April 14, 2023, during which he drove a car at his mother at her address and assaulted her despite just beginning the suspended portion of his sentence for the manslaughter of Mr Mulligan.

Hillen pleaded guilty at Lisburn Magistrates Court to the assault of his mother, criminal damage to her wall when he crashed the car, dangerous driving, assaulting a police officer in resisting arrest and possession of cocaine.

He also pleaded guilty to driving while unfit through drink or drugs, aggravated theft of a car and driving without a licence or insurance.

In July 2023, Hillen was convicted and received an eight-month fully suspended sentence from Lisburn Magistrates Court.

The State then applied for the activation of the one-year suspended portion of Hillen’s manslaughter sentence resulting from his nine convictions in the North.

In seeking the activation of the suspended portion of the sentence under Section 99 of the Criminal Justice Act, John Berry BL, for the State, submitted to Ms Justice Creedon that keeping the peace and being of good behaviour was a “mandatory” condition for any suspended sentence.

On January 29 last, Ms Justice Creedon then activated nine months of the 12-month suspended sentence and Hillen was again taken into custody.

The trial heard that Mr Mulligan’s car had been moved away from his body, that his keys were found in a nearby field and that his mobile phone was never recovered.

Hillen denied murdering Mr Mulligan but admitted killing the deceased in what the murder accused claimed was self-defence. The court heard that Hillen, a father of two, had 15 previous convictions but none were for crimes of violence.

Hillen initially denied all knowledge of Mr Mulligan’s death. However, ahead of his trial he made a voluntary statement to gardaí admitting stabbing the deceased after what he claimed was an altercation on the side of the road.

Hillen had claimed that Mr Mulligan was dumping rubbish on his friend’s land and, on seeing this, gave chase. However, there was nothing in the case to suggest Mr Mulligan was dumping any rubbish, the trial court heard.

According to Hillen’s voluntary statement, a struggle ensued on the roadside. Hillen claimed the deceased produced a long, stainless steel kitchen knife.

Hillen described “flipping” the knife from the deceased’s hand, receiving punches to his head and then, as he described it, “jabbing out” twice with the knife while the defendant was underneath Mr Mulligan.

Hillen was found guilty of manslaughter by a ten-to-two majority and was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment with the final year suspended by Ms Justice Eileen Creedon on January 28, 2019.

However, the State appealed the sentence, arguing that it had been unduly lenient and in November 2019 the Court of Appeal increased the sentence by two years to nine years, again with the final 12 months suspended.

In re-sentencing Hillen, Court of Appeal president Mr Justice George Birmingham said the killing had been “a desperately serious offence” and that Mr Mulligan had been treated with “shocking callousness”.

Mr Mulligan was left seriously injured to die alone on a remote country road, without any prospect of being able to get away and summon help, the judge said.

At a sentencing hearing in 2018, Mr Mulligan’s youngest daughter, Shauna, said her father was left to die on the side of the road after he was “brutally, viciously and inhumanely killed for no fault of his own”.

His death had done ever-lasting damage that can never be described, she said. His eldest daughter, Sharon, remembered his “kindness and selflessness”.

Martin met his wife, Grainne, when they were teenagers and were about to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary when he died. “We had so many wonderful years together,” she said, “but not enough. Martin was and still is the love of my life.”

Mrs Mulligan said she would always be haunted by the way her husband died: “On the side of the road, alone without me or his family around him. I always wonder, did he cry out for me?”

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