A Dublin man has gone on trial in the Central Criminal Court for cutting the throat of another man in Inchicore, Dublin, four years ago.
Mr John Cleary (24), St Mark's Avenue, Clondalkin, Dublin, has denied the murder of Kenneth Foley (45), at Jamestown Court Inchicore. Mr Foley, a single man from Tyrconnell Road, Inchicore, was found dead on the steps of the Jamestown Court flat complex on January 15th, 1999.
Opening the case, Mr Denis Vaughan Buckley SC, prosecuting, told the jury: "It will not be an issue that this was an unlawful killing. There is no issue but that he killed Ken Foley. The issue that you will have to decide is whether he is guilty of murder or guilty of manslaughter."
He said a post-mortem showed that Mr Foley's death was "due to a cut-throat injury which severed a major blood vessel of the neck, the jugular vein". He also had multiple knife wounds to the head and neck and other body injuries from having been kicked and beaten.
In a statement to gardaí after he was arrested, Mr Cleary said he and a friend had joined another man drinking with Mr Foley in the flat on the evening of January 14th, 1999. Mr Cleary said when he was leaving, he offered to walk Mr Foley home, but he "started saying he wouldn't go home with me because I'd probably rob him of his £2.50".
He said Mr Foley called him a "scumbag" and a "robber". He hit Mr Foley in the face and head and then went to the toilet to calm down. When he got back, "he was still giving it loads", Mr Cleary said. He went to the kitchen and got a small black-handled knife.
Mr Foley "kept giving me stick", he said. When he left the flat, he waited outside for Mr Foley and he began hitting him when he came out. His friend emerged from the flat and joined in. Mr Cleary admitted that during the attack, he swung the knife at Mr Foley. While he was doing that, his friend was still kicking him.
When Mr Foley was on the ground, "I stood over him and I ran the knife over his throat", Mr Cleary told gardaí.
Mr Vaughan Buckley said the jury would hear that Mr Cleary was arrested when Det Insp Declan Coburn called to his parents' home in St Mark's Avenue, Clondalkin, the day after Mr Foley's body was found.
Mr Cleary's parents were "very co-operative" and his father brought gardaí to his daughter's house, where they found Mr Cleary. When he saw the gardaí, he asked could he go to the toilet upstairs. In a subsequent search of the toilet, Det Insp Coburn found a gold signet ring with the name "Ken" on it. In a second search, he found a gold watch.
Mr Vaughan Buckley said that in his statement to gardaí, although he admitted the killing, Mr Cleary said he did not know why he did it.
The trial continues before Mr Justice O'Higgins.