A KEY witness in the murder trial of a Co Wicklow man has told a court how she saw a man wearing a balaclava and armed with a knife, struggling with her boss after attempting to rob his shop.
Breaking down several times during her evidence at the Central Criminal Court yesterday, Kay O’Connor recalled how she was working on her own in Brauder’s shop in Arklow on the evening of November 25th, 2009, when Anthony Farrell came in wielding a knife.
She screamed for her boss, John Deasy, who was in the apartment overhead, and he arrived on the scene also armed with a knife.
There was a struggle between the two, during which Mr Deasy was fatally stabbed.
Farrell (20), Marian Villas, Arklow, has denied murdering Mr Deasy (44). He has pleaded guilty to a second count of robbery causing Ms O’Connor to fear she would be subjected to force.
Wiping tears from her eyes, Ms O’Connor described how Farrell demanded that she open the till, and how she refused at first. He pushed the knife into her face and demanded she open the till again, so she obeyed and screamed for Mr Deasy.
The shopkeeper arrived down at the front door holding a knife.
The court heard there had been two previous robberies at Brauder’s shop, during which an axe and a knife were used. Farrell was not involved in either of those incidents.
Ms O’Connor said Mr Deasy and Farrell began pushing and shoving each other in the middle of the shop. She got a sweeping brush and began hitting Farrell on the back.
The struggle continued outside in the middle of the road and, when she saw Farrell turn as if to go, Mr Deasy grabbed his arm.
Wiping tears from her eyes, she said Mr Deasy looked up at her and she knew then he had been stabbed because she could see blood. She ran to get a towel thinking he had been hurt in the arm and when she returned, Mr Deasy was on the ground, his head on the doorstep of the shop.
His aorta had been severed, causing his lungs to fill with blood and a rapid death.
Ms O’Connor described the knife used by Farrell as a good quality sharp knife. She was shown a black-handled knife, which she said was similar to the one Farrell had.
She was shown a second, smaller kitchen knife, but said she could not say whether it was the one Mr Deasy had.
Under cross-examination by Michael O’Higgins SC, defending, she agreed that Mr Deasy was holding the knife up in his left hand so that Farrell could see it clearly.
She agreed that he had been annoyed after the other two robberies at his shop, but said he “got on with things”.
“He wasn’t an angry man, he would be his usual jolly self.”
She agreed, however, that he did look angry when he came in to the shop to confront Farrell. She could not say whether Farrell had been trying to leave and Mr Deasy was trying to stop him.
The case resumes today before Mr Justice Paul Butler.