Alexander Coughlan murder and homophobia Alex Coughlan was murdered in north Dublin in May 2026. A 5-second disturbing and gory clip emerged on Twitter which appeared to show a male assaulting bloodied Alex who was on his knees not defending himself Two males (17 now, 16 in May) are before the Central Criminal Court for murder and robbery. Alone amongst our media outlets, Fatima Gunning, the legal correspondent for Gript states that the accused are of a Muslim background. The prosecution has been at pains to stress that the motive for the fatal assault was “robbery and extortion, and no other motive”. Extortion appears to have now been dropped, and is not mentioned in the recent court report. However, despite the claim by the prosecution about robbery being the motive, robbery was not the sole motive for the killing, and in the circumstances, homophobia is the likeliest superior motive (a) the gratuitous and sadistic violence meted out to a man who was on his knees and compliant was not “for robbery”, Alex was not resisting their demands, he was not defending himself from the blows; a bail hearing heard he had “no defensive injuries” (b) neither Alex’s phone or watch were robbed. Even the most basic smartphone can be fenced in Dublin for €30, fancier phones can be fenced for several hundred euros. Ditto for the watch. If robbery was the motive why weren’t they taken? The accused took a gold-coloured ring but unless they read the hallmarks, they had no idea of its value, €30 or €300. They took the wallet, but the bank cards were only used for consumable purchases including sweets and minerals. If robbery was “the motive”, they’re the world’s worst robbers. (c) one of the attackers was heard saying on video, and this has been repeated in court “I will smash the fuck out of you, you fucking little bitch” The word “bitch” can have many connotations depending on the genders of who says it and about whom, in what circumstances. In this incident, it is clearly an insult to feminise a man, and is plainly homophobic. Why hasn’t the DPP indicated this case will be prosecuted with a motive of homophobia? If the accused are convicted, they won’t face additional sanction under the Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) Act 2024 unless homophobia has been tested in the trial or is agreed in a plea? The DPP has been slow before to link serious cases to sensitive subjects, like Islamist terror for the Capel Street attack when all of us had seen the evidence was plainly captured on video.