THE SISTER of two brothers, whose street fight ended with one fatally stabbing the other, has told a jury at the Central Criminal Court that "one was as bad as the other".
Ann Marie O'Loughlin told Caroline Biggs, prosecuting, with Tom McConnell SC, that her brothers were extremely upset after a fight earlier that evening.
Patrick McDonagh (27), Bridge Court, Roslevan, Ennis, denies murdering his brother Charlie (30) at Bridge Court, on January 28th after a drinking session. He also denies the alternative charge of manslaughter and a further charge of producing a knife in the course of a fight.
Ms O'Loughlin said she had been in bed when she received a call from Patrick's wife Donna, who asked her if she and the children could stay the night and whether she would collect Patrick from the hospital where he had gone after the earlier fight.
Ms O'Loughlin said Patrick was "crying like a baby" when she and her husband arrived at the hospital. He had been treated for injuries including a split lip, broken nose and slashed ear. She said Patrick cheered up when he got outside the hospital and talked about getting compensation from Charlie for his injuries. "He was all upset and then he was like laughing. It was like an act, to be honest."
Despite his sister and a brother, who had also arrived at the hospital, trying to persuade him to stay elsewhere over night, Patrick insisted on going home to his wife and three children.
Ned McDonagh, a brother of both the accused and the deceased, told Mr McConnell that Charlie arrived at the house he shared with his sister's family and their father at about 11.30pm that night. He seemed drunk and was very upset about the fact that Patrick had broken the window of his van. Ned tried to calm him down, telling him they could sort everything out in the morning.
When Charlie tried to drive off, Ned reached into his van for the keys. In the struggle that followed, the key was broken. Ned told Mr McConnell that Charlie got out of the car and started advancing towards him telling him he now owed him a set of keys. He agreed with Brendan Nix, defending, that Charlie had been known to bite people when he was drinking and was in a temper.
He said Charlie ran off down the street and hailed a taxi. Ned followed in a van with his brother- in-law. The taxi driver, Paul Kelleher, agreed with Mr Nix that Charlie told him he was being chased by his brothers who intended to hurt him but also agreed that he had told gardaí: "They're my brothers. They're after thrashing my van. I'm going to kill them."
The trial continues today.