A young sailor who was pulled in a lifeless condition from the River Liffey by his comrades had a number of cuts and grazes to his face, the Central Criminal Court heard yesterday.
Duty Petty Officer Daniel O'Flynn gave evidence that after Brian Gorey was pronounced dead he noticed a number of "unusual" marks on his face.
"I did notice a cut on his forehead, a scratch on his nose, two scratches on his neck and a graze on the side of his face," Mr O'Flynn said.
He was giving evidence in the trial of Mr Sean Lundon (21), James Connolly Park, Tipperary town. Mr Lundon, the ship's apprentice mechanic, has denied the murder of fellow crewman, Mr Brian Gorey (21), Devon Close, Castletroy View, Limerick, at Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin, on April 22nd, 2001.
The officer, who was the nightwatchman aboard the Irish navy flagship, the LE Eithne, told how he was shocked to see the young sailor being washed away in the river a short time after he'd kept a check on him.
"I was told he was on his way back, someone said he was drunk so I asked a cadet to escort him to make sure he wouldn't fall," he said. "To my knowledge Brian Gorey was asleep in the next room," he added.
Some time after 5 a.m. another crewman alerted Officer O'Flynn to the deck and told him there was somebody in the water. "He said, 'I think it's Gorey'," the witness told the court.
"I saw a head in the water and knowing his hairstyle, I knew it was Gores," he said, referring to the deceased. He said he moved quickly to raise the alarm and throw a lifebuoy into the water.
"There was a comrade we'd been keeping an eye on all night in the river," he said. He told the court that Brian Gorey had previously told him he couldn't swim.
It is the State's case that the accused, who denies the charge, assaulted Able Seaman Gorey in the ship's recreation room. He then took or carried him down a corridor to the ship's starboard side where he was dropped into the river.
The trial continues.