A teenager has told the Central Criminal Court that he has known the man accused of his mother's murder all his life, and had been very friendly with him at one stage.
The youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was giving evidence by video link in the trial of Mr Mark Costigan (18), Aylesbury, Kilkenny.
Mr Costigan has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Christine Quinn (36), at her home on Greenfields Road, Kilkenny, on December 5th, 2002. Yesterday, the witness told the court he became friendly with the accused during the summer of 2001, during which time Mr Costigan would have often visited.
He said the accused would come in by crossing the back wall, walking through the back garden and in the back patio door. "He would have been there most days of the week," he added.
During this time, the Quinns' terrier, "Rocky" got to know the accused, and rather than attacking him as he would a stranger, "it would be just a sniff and a bark" explained the teenager.
In cross-examination, when asked by Mr Paul Coffey SC, prosecuting, how the dog would react if a family member were attacked, he replied, "I don't know as he would have never seen it before".
He told the court that he had a PlayStation 1 that summer and Mr Costigan had a PlayStation 2, which they played in the Quinn home.
The friends fell out in September 2001, when Mrs Quinn's mobile phone went missing. Allegations were made that Mr Costigan may be partly to blame, and he did not return to the house. The witness also told the court that as he had the day off school, he had spent his mother's final morning with her.
They ran a number of errands and Ms Quinn gave her son €5 to spend that afternoon and they parted company at 12.20 p.m.
He returned home to learn of his mother's death at about 6.15 p.m.
The jury of six men and six women also heard yesterday from a teacher of the accused, Ms Mandy Bloomer.
Ms Bloomer said the accused "had a bandage on his right arm from his wrist to his elbow". When asked what had happened, he said he had hurt himself.
The trial before Mr Justice Michael Peart has now gone into legal argument in the absence of the jury, and will resume on Friday.