Tipperary murder trials: Seán Harding pleads guilty to manslaughter, Hasan Ali Gori denies murder

Shed interview in the Harding trial

On Monday, 2 November 2026, the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork played video of garda interviews with Seán Harding, a 32-year-old from Marian Terrace, Tipperary Town, to Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford and a jury of seven women and five men. Harding denies murder but has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of an 80-year-old man, who was killed in a shed beside his home in Tipperary Town on 12 September 2025. He also admitted three burglary charges. Gardaí arrested him shortly after the incident in September 2025. During the questioning, detectives told him the older man was on life support at University Hospital Limerick, although he was still alive when the interviews took place.

Asked about his intentions, Harding told gardaí:

“I never set out to harm anyone or cause any harm to anyone.”

In the recorded account, Harding said he had gone into the shed to collect tools and was putting them into a bag when someone came to the door. He described barging past the man, who fell back after a shove he placed around the chest area, and said he had not hit him. Harding also confirmed that CCTV from a neighbouring house showed him approaching the house while carrying a black holdall.

Hasan Ali Gori's murder trial

Hasan Ali Gori, 52, a native of Chad, denies murdering an 89-year-old grandmother at her home in Nenagh on 4 August 2024. The trial is before the Central Criminal Court in Limerick, where a jury of nine men and three women is hearing evidence. Prosecution counsel Lorcan Connolly alleges that Gori strangled and suffocated the woman in her bed on the morning of 4 August 2024. Gori had moved into the home while in a relationship with the woman's daughter, who has an intellectual disability and is regarded as a vulnerable person. Several witnesses, including family members, described constant and volatile arguments, and two of the woman's daughters told the court she had hit Gori with a poker.

1. Mar 13, 2024Gardaí called to the home after a domestic incident and told the accused to leave
2. Aug 4, 2024Date the prosecution says the 89-year-old was strangled in her bed in Nenagh

Forensic evidence and earlier garda contact

Gardaí put it to Gori that his DNA was the only other human DNA found on forensic samples taken from the woman's remains, although he, the daughter and her son were all in the house when the body was found. A forensic scientist told the court that DNA can generally transfer between people sharing accommodation without ever touching. Gori told gardaí he had 'nothing' to do with the death and said:

“They have a plan to murder me but they'll never succeed, I trust my God.”

Gardaí had been called to the home on 13 March 2024 after a domestic incident and told the woman they would ask Gori to leave. Garda Jack Walker testified that Gori replied he would leave only as a dead body. The court also heard that the daughter had added Gori to her disability allowance, giving her an extra weekly payment of €154. The Gori jury is expected to conclude its deliberations in the week of 2 November 2026.