A man who stabbed an HIV-positive patient to death in St James's Hospital, Dublin, when arrested told gardaí he would "do it again".
Patrick Gilraine (50), a father-of-four children, Basin Street flats, admitted to Garda Seán Cosgrove he had attacked Mr Kevin Dowler (52).
"I stabbed him, I stabbed him with a knife, I hope he's dead, he's a paedophile," Gilraine told Garda Cosgrove as he handcuffed him outside the hospital shortly after the attack. When cautioned, he repeated, "I'd do it again". He later signed the note of his comments in the garda's notebook, agreeing it was correct.
Garda Cosgrove was giving evidence on the second day of the trial of Gilraine at the Central Criminal Court yesterday. Gilraine (otherwise known as Kilraine) has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Dowler on February 7th, 2000.
The State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison, told the court Mr Dowler had died as a result of two of seven stab wounds. Although the victim was "seriously ill" with a "long and complicated medical and surgical history for chronic infections", he died as a result of the stabbing. "The only relevance of his background to his death was that his ability to defend himself against violent attack was reduced," Dr Harbison said.
Evidence was heard from two social workers that Gilraine approached them on the afternoon of the killing to voice his concerns about the impending discharge of Mr Dowler.
Ms Margaret Byrne said Gilraine called to her office at about 2 p.m. "He started to tell me he was concerned that Kevin should not be released and said he had reason to believe he'd molest young boys, he'd done so before and would do so again," she said. "He said they were young homeless boys."
The head of the section, Ms Maeve Foreman, was informed of Gilraine's concerns and came to speak to him. She reassured him his allegations were serious and that the proper route to take was to inform the gardaí or the health board.
"I explained that we could not prevent his [Mr Dowler's] discharge, we were not a holding centre and couldn't keep him in hospital against his will," she said. She said she emphasised to him that he could be the "missing link" the gardaí needed in the event that other unsubstantiated allegations had been made about Mr Dowler.
Under cross-examination by Mr Peter le Vert, for the defence, the witness said she and her staff had acted properly.
However, she said the matter would have been followed up by the hospital social workers had Mr Dowler not been attacked and killed.
"I put the responsibility back to him to take his concerns to the authorities, but then we would have looked at our responsibility as well," she said.
The trial continues today.