A brother of a man who was stabbed to death recalled how he opened the front door of his flat to find his older brother bleeding heavily, a court heard yesterday.
Mr Seán O'Toole was giving evidence on the first day of the murder trial of Mr Brian Collins (40), O'Connell Avenue, Limerick, at the Central Criminal Court, sitting in Limerick.
Mr Collins has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Séamus O'Toole (22), Hospital, Co Limerick, on September 24th, 2002. A jury has heard that Mr O'Toole died after receiving stab wounds to his throat and to his side.
Mr Seán O'Toole wept while giving evidence of the night he opened the door of his flat and his brother collapsed on top of him, bleeding heavily. Séamus O'Toole sometimes stayed in his brother's flat in Limerick city when he was working late or missed his lift home. Seán O'Toole recalled how he ran to the front door of his flat on Catherine Place after hearing a scuffle on the corridor outside.
When he opened the door, his brother fell on top of him and he said there was "blood everywhere". He went to call an ambulance and while on the phone noticed a man running really fast outside his flat.
A girlfriend of Mr Collins, Ms Ann O'Brien, gave evidence of how he had suspected that people involved in an attack on her car a few days before lived at a flat in Catherine Place. That night she drove Mr Collins to Catherine Place because "he wanted to know who was living there".
Shortly after, she returned to the area and found him running towards her car. "He opened the door of the car and told me to drive, drive, drive and said 'get me out of here'." She said he changed his shirt in his brother's house and when he came back into the car he changed his pants.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Carney.