A Dublin man has pleaded not guilty to beating another man to death during a drunken row in a field near Palmerstown in 1999. The jury in the Central Criminal Court was told the victim may have lain unconscious for "a significant time".
Mr Michael McDonnell (42) denies murdering Mr Martin "Dick" Sweeney (36), of Ballyfermot, between May 27th and 28th, 1999. Mr McDonnell lived in Clondalkin at the time.
Mr Michael Durack SC, prosecuting, told the jury the Deputy State Pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy, concluded that Mr Sweeney died "as a result of punches and kicks and blows, principally to the head".
Dr Cassidy would show that Sweeney may have lain "unconscious for some significant time before he actually died".
The next day Mr Sweeney's body was found by a man checking on his horse.
A prosecution witness, Mr Francis Fagan, said he and two others began drinking in the fields at 1.30 p.m. on May 27th. Mr Martin Sweeney joined them at around 7:30 p.m. and Mr McDonnell came later. Both men had drink taken and had alcohol with them.
Mr Fagan agreed that Mr McDonnell was then living with Mr Sweeney's brother's wife, who was separated from him. Mr Fagan said Mr McDonnell and Mr Sweeney began arguing later and Mr McDonnell was saying "more or less, we don't want you in our company".
Then Mr McDonnell gave Mr Sweeney "a boot in the head", and began "dragging Martin around the place", and he heard him say, "I am going to throw you in the Liffey".
"He said, `I'm going to drown you, once and for all', Mr Fagan said and he went to ask Mr Sweeney if he was all right. "I got a bang on the back of the head". He alleged Mr McDonnell struck him.
He was afraid of Mr McDonnell, he said. "I got up and I got out of there," he said, and as he ran away he saw another man from the group being punched by Mr McDonnell.
Mr Durack said young people walking down Mill Lane saw Mr Fagan "pumping blood and quite drunk and that he was followed by Mr McDonnell, who had blood on his hands and who was also drunk".
Mr Fagan was brought to St James's Hospital. The prosecution alleges Mr McDonnell made various attempts to get in to see him and had to be restrained by security staff. Mr Fagan said he saw Mr McDonnell coming into his cubicle, but "someone came in and he was put out".
The trial had to be interrupted a number of times due to poor acoustics. Mr Justice Butler said the small second-floor courtroom, where witnesses and others had to stand, and neither the ventilation system nor the public address system was functioning properly, was "very unsuitable for trials like this".
Last month, when relatives connected with another murder trial were forced to stand, Mr Justice Herbert said the courtroom was "wholly unsuitable for a murder trial".
The trial continues today.