Irish Man Cleared of Assaulting His Girlfriend Blames Her Injuries on "Demonic Forces"

48-year-old Shane Gibbons of County Clare, Ireland was cleared of assault last month following an August 17th, 2019 incident in which he held his then-girlfriend down during an attempted exorcism.

Gibbons was accused of assault by his former girlfriend, who said he had forced her onto her back and pinned her down on his bed during the early morning hours.

According to the complaint, Gibbons held her down and continued shaking her "forever," until her upper body, thighs, wrists, face, and neck were bruised. Once he left the room, she then called the national police service.

The pair were together for three years of what Gibbons described as "hell," prior to the incident which ended their relationship.

Officer Darren McLoughlin testified that when police arrived at the home, the complainant was in a very distressed state. She allowed police to take photos of her injuries that were later shown in court.

Officer McLoughlin also said that when Gibbons was shown the photos, he claimed that his then-girlfriend was demonically possessed and that he had carried out exorcisms on her.

Gibbons provided police with a video showing him perform an exorcism on his girlfriend in 2016 as part of the statement made after the alleged assault. Also shared by Gibbons was a photo of her being "attacked" by a "demonic entity" in 2016. That photo showed scrapes to her ribs and buttocks.

At trial, when asked by Judge Durcan to comment on Gibbons' "exorcism" video, Officer McLoughlin said, “There is something there when viewing the video. It is very, very strange and you do see her scraping herself.”

Gibbons told police that an “exceptional evil entity was using her own abilities for its own purpose. It was able to perform tasks and use her ability for dark purposes. It could take control of her at will and engage me in conversation—sometimes in Latin [a language she does not speak].”

Judge Patrick Durcan, who presided over the case, said that Gibbons' defense and "version of events concerning the occult, exorcisms and devilish possession should have been explored more by the State."

The judge added that he had found the complainant "to be less than fulsome" under cross-examination; noting that she remained silent when asked about previous unexplained injuries which she had allowed Gibbons to photograph.

Gibbons' attorney, Daragh Hassett, read aloud a text sent by the complainant to Gibbons which read, "I am so glad. I knew I needed the exorcism."

However, under cross-examination, the woman denied being possessed by demons, and when asked about the text message, said that what took place was not an exorcism.

When asked about the unexplained bruises on her body that appeared in the photos previously taken by Gibbons, she said, "I don't know what caused the bruising."

Ultimately, Judge Durcan said there were “so many conflicting and unsatisfactory aspects” to the case he was “not satisfied to convict,” and ruled that the bruises found on Gibbons’ now ex-girlfriend were done under circumstances where there was no intention to cause any harm.

Gibbons maintains that his former girlfriend—who remains unnamed to protect her privacy—was possessed by “demonic forces,” and said she would sometimes enter a "trance-like state" prior to "spouting Latin." These phenomena were often accompanied by lights turning on and off, objects flying off of walls, and mysterious injuries to his girlfriend, including "horrible bruising and horrific-looking scratch marks,” he said.

"I would witness poltergeist activity and this whole plethora of stuff," Gibbons told the Daily Mail in a November 2017 interview. "The bruising she was getting was horrible. When I wasn't there it would escalate. Some of the marks she got were horrific-looking marks, scratch marks and all of that."

"One thing I did learn from all this is that good and evil definitely exist," he added.

Gibbons said that "If I never saw any of this again I'd be absolutely delighted. It is not something you invite upon yourself, it is not something I wanted to deal with or ever expected to deal with. I'm a very practical guy, I would have kept this private. The only reason this has come to light is because of the court case."

According to the 48-year-old, what he saw is distinct from any mundane mental health issue.

"I'm sure lots of people will come up with their scientific explanation and mental health issues, and I actually think that both can exist at the same time, but there are far too many things that happened to her and to me that would account for her under something like her being psychologically traumatised or something," Gibbons said. "I would have been that way of thinking myself but just too much happened, too many bizarre things happened."

Gibbons did admit, however, that mental illness could have played a role in the events.

"It's very difficult to say how these marks would appear, because when she was with me I'd never let it past a point, but when she wasn't with me, I mean she would have woken up in a field naked and she would have had these marks on her," he said. "She wouldn't remember what happened at all because she would have been in a trance state. Mental health and possession complement each other rather than contradict. I think she did have mental health issues, but I think it stemmed from the possession."

According to Gibbons, the reported possession—and any attendant mental health issues—were not generally recognizable to those outside of their relationship.

"You could meet her at work and you wouldn't know. You might just think she is a bit quiet or something," he said. "When she was targeted, [the demonic forces] would have been smart enough, they'd use her but use her smartly. They didn't tend to target her on a busy street or anything like that.”

Gibbons’ version of events is corroborated by parish priest Father Donagh O'Meara, whom Gibbons contacted for help.

"He's certainly telling you the truth and I'll verify all of that,' Father O'Meara said. "I met them and I'll verify everything. He's not telling you [a lie]. I'll verify it on the record if you want. I just don't know whether I want to say she was possessed, because I don't know. But you can verify his character...It's not an easy thing to say that someone is possessed, but I think she is possessed by an experience she had, something had happened to her, I don't know what it was or where it happened or who did it."

Gibbons also sought help from Kerry-based healer Jane Donnelly. By that time, he said, the evil presence inside his girlfriend was "extremely annoyed" at him for seeking help.

"What Jane saw that day, [the demonic entity] told me he was able to hide from her," he said. "She cleared the entities that were caught with her, but it was the dark divine presence that was causing the possessions that didn't get moved on and indeed was able to hide from her. 'I hide in the shadows,' is what [the demonic entity] said to me on the way back."

"He was extremely annoyed at me. He basically said I'm still here and can hide in the shadows and it got a lot worse from then on," added Gibbons.

Donnelly said that when Gibbons brought his girlfriend to her shop in Kerry, "She was just completely like catatonic, like out of it completely and shaking and he had to hold her to bring her in. She was possessed by this evil spirit, which I was able to remove from her. I remember it so well because I'd never encountered that level of possession."

"I've seen demons and different things, but that level of possession I have only seen in the movies to be honest. I was able to help her and I was able to remove it and she went home and was good for a good number of months before it came at her again," she continued. "There are a lot of people who are suffering with this on different levels, not as bad as this usually. When she left that day she was beautiful, she was lovely, she was normal. It is scary and it is annoying priests can wash it off as something that happened in the 1950s and not today."

According to Donnelly, "[Gibbons] was going through hell with her and he tried [everywhere for help]. I personally felt she kept inviting this energy back to her. For some few individuals it might need to be cleared more than once, but for her there was no clearing her, it just kept coming back worse and worse. When she came in that day it was like she was in a trance."

Gibbons also claimed to have taken his girlfriend to a facility in the United States for help.

"There is a place in Michigan that is well funded and set up, with doctors and nurses," he said. "As soon as they saw her they knew immediately what was happening. They don't want to talk about this either, they are very secretive and they won't be impressed to see my name in the paper talking about them."

However, he said, "After Michigan she was better and they did show her how to manage her ability."

That help apparently did not last, and events culminated in the alleged assault.

Dealing with the events has been difficult, said Gibbons, because people are “reluctant” to discuss demonic possession.

"I think there's a lot more that needs to be done in terms of this, but everyone is reluctant to talk about it. I mean it has impacted my life, even my work life," he said. "This has been a big shock to my family and people who know me. It is affecting my work, I work in healthcare and you need credibility. Some understand and some don't understand at all."

Gibbons claims that he continued to receive texts in Latin from his ex-girlfriend until he was eventually forced to block her number.

To report your own encounter with the impossible, reach out to us directly at the Singular Fortean Society through our contact page.

If you enjoyed this article and would like to support the Singular Fortean Society, please consider becoming an official member by signing up through our Patreon page—membership includes a ton of extra content and behind-the-scenes access to the Society’s inner workings.