One of three men on trial for murder admitted to gardaí that he had "jumped up and down" on the 19-year-old victim's head because he had "slagged him off".
Mr Brian Willoughby admitted asking two others to help him give Brian Mulvaney "a hiding" but said he was not responsible and had "just gone berserk".
At the Central Criminal Court yesterday, Sgt Terence Brennan was giving evidence in the trial of Mr Willoughby (24), Orwell Park, Templeogue, Dublin, Mr Neal Barbour (20), Domville Road, Templeogue, and a teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
They the murder of Mr Mulvaney, of Firhouse, Dublin, on March 11th, 2000, at Templeogue. Mr Mulvaney was found lying on the road, naked from the waist up, with severe head injuries. He was brought to Tallaght Hospital where he died.
Sgt Brennan told the court that Mr Willoughby was interviewed by the gardaí at Terenure following his arrest on March 11th. In the first statement he made, Mr Willoughby denied any involvement in assaulting Mr Mulvaney, but after his mother asked him to tell the truth, he changed his story. "I met this guy at the party, I didn't even know his name.".
Mr Mulvaney and Mr Willoughby walked to the local shops together in the early hours of the morning where they met the two other accused. "I met [the third named accused\] and said this guy was 's******* on Orwell' and I said 'let's give him a hiding'," he continued.
He said that both he and the third accused started hitting and kicking Mr Mulvaney, who ran away. The court has already heard that Mr Barbour was also present and that he chased him and "grounded him".
"I kept dancing on his head . . . I kept jumping up and down on his head when he was on the ground," Mr Willoughby told gardaí. "I kept kicking and jumping on his head for two minutes . . . then I just left him there," he said. "This guy was slagging us off, so I gave him a hiding".
Mr Willoughby went on to say that he was on medication for mood swings and depression and that he had smoked hash and drank lager on the night of the party.
"I know I should not drink alcohol when I take my medication, but I do. And when I do I get very aggressive, I mean aggressive," he said.
Describing the fatal attack as a "big f***- up", he said he was sorry and that he did not mean to kill Mr Mulvaney. "I don't feel that I was responsible for what happened, I just went berserk," he later said.
The trial continues today.