Paddy McCourt

[Nige92]

Paddy McCourt charged with sexual assault. Club need to come out with a statement. Personally, I think he should be removed from his role while the matter is ongoing.

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news ... 13996.html

[barry]

I'm sure he will step aside given he is technical director of the acedemy and the clubs safegaurding policies are enforced. That said stepping aside does not assume guilt. Its unfortunate his name has been released in the public domain at this point.

[Marty]

I'm sure he will step aside given he is technical director of the acedemy and the clubs safegaurding policies are enforced. That said stepping aside does not assume guilt. Its unfortunate his name has been released in the public domain at this point.

He released his own name with his statement explaining his version of events.

[stevebradley]

I'm sure he will step aside given he is technical director of the acedemy and the clubs safegaurding policies are enforced. That said stepping aside does not assume guilt. Its unfortunate his name has been released in the public domain at this point.

He released his own name with his statement explaining his version of events.

Only because it was blatantly clear who the press reports about the male who'd been arrested were referring to. Particularly in The Sun.

[barry]

I'm sure he will step aside given he is technical director of the acedemy and the clubs safegaurding policies are enforced. That said stepping aside does not assume guilt. Its unfortunate his name has been released in the public domain at this point.

He released his own name with his statement explaining his version of events.

It was widely discussed across the City and social media platforms.

[Greengo]

This absolutely stinks...

Quickly on the heels of a premiership player getting arrested for "assaulting" his girlfriend...

I hope I'm wrong but Paddy just doesnt seem the type to do this sort of thing...

[brandyball]

This absolutely stinks...

Quickly on the heels of a premiership player getting arrested for "assaulting" his girlfriend...

I hope I'm wrong but Paddy just doesnt seem the type to do this sort of thing...

I hear it was caught on CCTV.

[marcoloco]

I don't think anyone should be commenting on this to be honest.

It's an open investigation and there's also a serious accusation being made. Normally, a formal charge suggests evidence though its robustness has not been tested yet. Paddy has every right to defend himself against that charge and i'm pleased that he will do.

If you have a first hand account of what you witnessed on the night then take it to the PSNI. Otherwise, opinions should keep it to themselves. Girls and women get attacked, battered, raped and murdered too often and if a serious complaint is made then it rightly should be investigated by the authorities.

Its a distraction that we don't need going into a new season, or anytime, but for now I think its best to close this thread down before anyone says something that might prove damaging to either Paddy or the girl involved.

[burnfootbridiec]

Agree. Shouldn't be discussed on here. Both parties have a right to fair investigation without Derry rumours. ie comments beginning with "I heard, or Apparently "

[Keyser Soze]

Innocent until proven guilty.

I noticed that both the BBC News NI website and the Irish Independent both named him yesterday in their online articles.

Today the story is gone from the former, and the latter just has "well known ex football star".

Proper order too. This idea of naming people before the trial blackens their name whether they are found innocent or not.

[stevebradley]

I don't think anyone should be commenting on this to be honest.

It's an open investigation and there's also a serious accusation being made. Normally, a formal charge suggests evidence though its robustness has not been tested yet. Paddy has every right to defend himself against that charge and i'm pleased that he will do.

If you have a first hand account of what you witnessed on the night then take it to the PSNI. Otherwise, opinions should keep it to themselves. Girls and women get attacked, battered, raped and murdered too often and if a serious complaint is made then it rightly should be investigated by the authorities.

Its a distraction that we don't need going into a new season, or anytime, but for now I think its best to close this thread down before anyone says something that might prove damaging to either Paddy or the girl involved.

Definitely agree ML. The thread should be closed for the protection and benefit of all involved (including this forum)

[TenaciousDee]

Agree. Shouldn't be discussed on here. Both parties have a right to fair investigation without Derry rumours. ie comments beginning with "I heard, or Apparently "

It is being discussed everywhere, not exclusively here. Are you asking your friends on Facebook, your staff room etc. from discussing it openly? Unless particular details such as the lady in question's name is posted or any details that had been actually seen at the scene, there is no need to close the discussion

This absolutely stinks...

Quickly on the heels of a premiership player getting arrested for "assaulting" his girlfriend...

I hope I'm wrong but Paddy just doesnt seem the type to do this sort of thing...

I hear it was caught on CCTV.

Rumour and innuendo which his solicitors have clearly dismissed in their statement yesterday. I find it highly unlikely, if it were true, they would mention it at all in the statement as it would make Paddy and the firm look bad.

[marcoloco]

Disappointing that some folk seem to be taking sides despite having no access to any formal charges, statements, cctv or evidence. Lets leave this one to the PSNI and solicitors to resolve. Then we can all read about it when its over.

[TenaciousDee]

I don't think anyone should be commenting on this to be honest.

It's an open investigation and there's also a serious accusation being made. Normally, a formal charge suggests evidence though its robustness has not been tested yet. Paddy has every right to defend himself against that charge and i'm pleased that he will do.

If you have a first hand account of what you witnessed on the night then take it to the PSNI. Otherwise, opinions should keep it to themselves. Girls and women get attacked, battered, raped and murdered too often and if a serious complaint is made then it rightly should be investigated by the authorities.

Its a distraction that we don't need going into a new season, or anytime, but for now I think its best to close this thread down before anyone says something that might prove damaging to either Paddy or the girl involved.

Definitely agree ML. The thread should be closed for the protection and benefit of all involved (including this forum)

Here is how I see it

I heard about this incident on Tuesday morning when a fella in work got a message from a taxi man “who heard it from” who “heard it from”. Since then I have been speaking to Greengo about the best course of action IF a thread opened. Now a thread is open since it entered the public domain on Thursday, discussing it here is not illegal, but as the forum's moderators we must be vigilant. I have been logging in here almost every 30 minutes to make sure no-one has posted anything that puts this forum at risk.

As previously stated, this incident has been discussed across social media for days, few of those platforms aren’t as well moderated as this page, I would be more concerned with what is being shared there if I were any of you. I can tell you without exaggeration I have in the last 2-3 years of moderating this forum deleted some seriously slanderous comments and accusations made against former players, current players and ex-managers and to many of you, it went unnoticed.

If anything is said that is deemed inappropriate, it will be deleted.

If the thread gets out of hand, it will be deleted.

If you have any concerns, hit the report button then we will deal with it.

By the way, despite all your protests not one person has reported the thread yet.

[DeeDerry1975]

https://www.derrycityfc.net/2022/02/club-statement-2/

[marcoloco]

I don't think anyone should be commenting on this to be honest.

It's an open investigation and there's also a serious accusation being made. Normally, a formal charge suggests evidence though its robustness has not been tested yet. Paddy has every right to defend himself against that charge and i'm pleased that he will do.

If you have a first hand account of what you witnessed on the night then take it to the PSNI. Otherwise, opinions should keep it to themselves. Girls and women get attacked, battered, raped and murdered too often and if a serious complaint is made then it rightly should be investigated by the authorities.

Its a distraction that we don't need going into a new season, or anytime, but for now I think its best to close this thread down before anyone says something that might prove damaging to either Paddy or the girl involved.

Definitely agree ML. The thread should be closed for the protection and benefit of all involved (including this forum)

Here is how I see it

I heard about this incident on Tuesday morning when a fella in work got a message from a taxi man “who heard it from” who “heard it from”. Since then I have been speaking to Greengo about the best course of action IF a thread opened. Now a thread is open since it entered the public domain on Thursday, discussing it here is not illegal, but as the forum's moderators we must be vigilant. I have been logging in here almost every 30 minutes to make sure no-one has posted anything that puts this forum at risk.

As previously stated, this incident has been discussed across social media for days, few of those platforms aren’t as well moderated as this page, I would be more concerned with what is being shared there if I were any of you. I can tell you without exaggeration I have in the last 2-3 years of moderating this forum deleted some seriously slanderous comments and accusations made against former players, current players and ex-managers and to many of you, it went unnoticed.

If anything is said that is deemed inappropriate, it will be deleted.

If the thread gets out of hand, it will be deleted.

If you have any concerns, hit the report button then we will deal with it.

By the way, despite all your protests not one person has reported the thread yet.

Dee, I get that mods have an impossible job and few would argue over how the site is managed. But putting that aside, we've got a club employee 'charged' with a serious offence. Until that offence is investigated and resolved the site management should remain neutral. Yet some posts are far from neutral and verging on offensive, not least to our female fans, players, and employees. The fact that mods seen this coming, discussed it and still posted in the manner above is worrying.

[TenaciousDee]

Other than the comment about the CCTV no-one, published or deleted has written a comment that would be offensive to anyone. To clarify, no-one has deleted a post in this thread or had one deleted to date. That comment I have posted (calling the CCTV rumour) was after the CCTV story was disputed by the solicitor and by keeping the original post and reply there should put an end to the rumours starting up in here again. On my phone I couldn't see how many views this thread has accumulated but just like yesterday the reports on posts or the content of the site in general, has been zero. We will continue to let the topic remain open until such time we feel otherwise

The above as you put it, is there to remind people of some of the rules of the forum. The reason I had discussed the possibility of threads opening over such derogatory rumours as it were on Tuesday, is because I had to let Greengo know as everything posted here affects Greengo. We have an unseen sub-forum for Admin and Mods and in the past when other rumours against individuals past and present in our club have been made we discuss the possible dangers that may lead to the site being shut down and Greengo being sued. You are nameless in what you post, same as us all, but if a solicitor takes issue with something said in here, will they go looking for "Marcoloco"? Naw, they will go after the man whose name and home address is on the registration of this website, which is independent of Derry City's official page. The fact you find that we discussed it with all that in mind "worrying", makes me think you are looking for an excuse to be offended, or maybe you never considered those dangers. We act on his advice and regardless if we close this or not, the topic will be discussed elsewhere. At least here unlike Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp etc. we can remove anything that goes against the three points I posted previously. It would be handier for me and all mods to delete it now and salvage something from our weekends (I have been on here non-stop and my battery is on the third charge since 8am yesterday) but someone else will only open a new thread with all the details overheard.

[marcoloco]

Other than the comment about the CCTV no-one, published or deleted has written a comment that would be offensive to anyone. To clarify, no-one has deleted a post in this thread or had one deleted to date. That comment I have posted has been disputed by the solicitor and by keeping it there should put an end to the rumours starting here.

The above as you put it, is there to remind people of some of the rules of the forum. The reason I had discussed the possibility of threads opening over such derogatory rumours as it were on Tuesday, is because I had to let Greengo know as the man who's name is on the site registration. We have an unseen sub-forum for Admin and Mods and in the past when other rumours against individuals past and present in our club have been made we discuss the possible dangers that may lead to the site being shut down and Greengo being sued. You are nameless in what you post, same as us all, but if a solicitor takes issue with something said in here, will they go looking for "Marcoloco"? Naw, they will go after the man whose name and home address is on the registration of this website, which is independent of Derry City's official page. We act on his advice and regardless if we close this or not, the topic will be discussed elsewhere. At least here unlike Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp etc. we can remove anything that goes against the three points I posted previously. The fact you find that worrying, makes me think you are looking for an excuse to be offended.

On my phone I couldn't see how many views this thread has accumulated but just like yesterday the reports on posts or the content of the site in general, has been zero. We will continue to let the topic remain open until such time we feel otherwise.

Looking for an excuse to be easily offended? Seriously? I'm not offended, more concerned, but i can well imagine others being offended.

But as you ask here's what concerns me...

When a mod posts that this incident 'stinks' what are they suggesting? Its a set up? An over reaction by the alleged victim or by authorities? What precisely stinks? Then to compare it to recent case of another high profile footballer in Manchester... ? Are we trying to downplay it now because its not of the same level of criminality or what? Or are we suggesting that its some type of entrapment because the person is also a well known footballer? I'm at a loss to understand the relevance. And then to suggests that people who commit these type of offences / crimes somehow fit neatly into a personality 'type'. When you unpack the entire post its not hard to see how some may take offence. This is then followed up your references to 'rumour and innuendo which his solicitors have clearly dismissed'. So collectively, the message coming from this Board appears to be very much stacked in favour of one side and lacks neutrality.

[TenaciousDee]

Have you read the statement from Madden and Finuacane regarding Paddy, his charges and the fact the CCTV claim is false? The CCTV claim, as backed by his solicitor is all I am claiming to be rumour and innuendo, the rest I have made no comment on. I am also not taking any side publicly or privately.

[marcoloco]

Have you read the statement from Madden and Finuacane regarding Paddy, his charges and the fact the CCTV claim is false? The CCTV claim, as backed by his solicitor is all I am claiming to be rumour and innuendo, the rest I have made no comment on. I am also not taking any side publicly or privately.

I have. Anyway, i've shared my concerns so i'll leave it at that.