A Dublin man, who was stabbed 17 times, suffered four cut-throat injuries, "slicing open his windpipe", State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy yesterday told a jury in the trial of two men accused of murdering the victim.
Mr Patrick Harris (30), of Griffith Parade, Finglas, and Mr Michael Norton (22), of St Pappins Green, Glasnevin, pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Noel Kearney (36), of Ballygall Parade, Finglas, on January 28th, 2002 in Finglas.
Outlining the injuries inflicted on Mr Kearney, Dr Cassidy told the Central Criminal Court: "This man died as a result of a knife attack, death was due to blood loss and the choking and inhaling of blood." Out of the 17 stab wounds, 10 of which were of a "deep and penetrating kind", the deceased had two stab wounds to the head and five to the neck area, the jury heard. The remaining stab wounds were on his trunk.
Dr Cassidy arrived at the scene at the front yard of the victim's neighbour, where he was lying on the ground between the front bumper of a car and the house. "There was heavy bloodstaining on and around the body," Dr Cassidy said. The excessive blood-staining on the victim's clothing indicated that "he had been upright for some time, bleeding from the injuries", she added.
She described the main stab wounds to the neck as "irregular, gaping, cut-throat injuries, measuring 12 cm long". The presence of four cuts to the skin meant that "a sharp instrument would have been drawn across the throat at least four times", according to Dr Cassidy.
"The large wound exposed the inside structures of the neck and the windpipe had been cut through twice, deep into the spinal cord," she said.
Out of the stab wounds to the trunk, two were inflicted from the back. The track of one of the wounds was 17 cm deep, and had injured Mr Kearney's lung and ended around the thick tissue of the heart, Dr Cassidy said.
The lack of defensive injuries indicated that Mr Kearney could have been restrained by a third party during the assault, the State Pathologist told the jury.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel Mr Felix McEnroy SC, for Mr Norton, Dr Cassidy admitted a knife found on nearby church grounds was "capable of inflicting the injuries". Another knife, located in two pieces at the victim's house, was capable of causing only some of the injuries, the court heard.
Mr Daniel Cullen, a cousin of the accused Mr Harris, admitted under cross-examination by Mr Edward Comyn SC, that "Patsy" Harris had pulled down his trousers and said to Mr Kearney: "Give us a blow job, Nobby." Other witnesses said that the incident was "just for a laugh".
The trial continues on Monday.