Cork Prison inmate died from stab wound to chest, court hears

A 42-year-old Cork Prison inmate died from a single stab wound to the front of his chest and haemorrhages to his heart and aorta, a murder trial has heard.

Brian Veale (31) of Dominic Street, Cork has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to murdering Graham Johnson at Cork Prison, Rathmore Road in Cork City on May 16th, 2015.

On Friday, prosecution counsel Tim O'Leary SC called Chief State Pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy to give evidence.

Dr Cassidy told the court she carried out a postmortem examination on Mr Johnson’s body on May 17th.

She examined the deceased in the mortuary and observed that his white T-shirt, which had “heavy blood staining” on the front, had been removed.

The witness said Mr Johnson had a large stab wound to “the centre of the front of his chest.”

“It was 12cms below the top of the breast bone and extending onto the left hand side of his chest. The wound was 6cms wide and the wound track was downwards,” she said.

The court heard the blade had “penetrated the breast bone” and then “sliced across the start of the three ribs and continued around the sac of the heart”.

The blade of the knife had gone straight through the heart from front to back, said Dr Cassidy.

As a result of these injuries the chest cavities were awash with blood, the court heard.

In conclusion, Dr Cassidy told the jury Mr Johnson’s death was due to a single stab wound to the front of his chest and haemorrhages to the heart and aorta.

The blade of the knife had “perforated the heart” as well as “slicing” through the walls of the heart and aorta.

“It could have required a considerable degree of force to penetrate the sternum,” she said

Opening the prosecution case to a jury on Thursday, Mr O’Leary told the court both the accused and deceased were inmates at Cork Prison and knew each other.

Counsel told the jury they would hear that the men were working in the kitchen of Cork Prison when there was “some type of verbal altercation” at about 3pm on May 16th.

Mr O’Leary said it would be alleged an altercation arose between the two men “over a switching of a television channel” in the kitchen where the inmates were preparing food.

Counsel told the jury they will also hear that the altercation took place and then finished but sometime after 5pm that same day, Mr Veale “came across a part of the kitchen with a knife” and stabbed the deceased in the chest.

The trial continues before Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy and a jury of seven men and five women. It is expected to last five days.