IRISHMAN GEARÓID Walsh turned blue after being struck by another man outside a Sydney takeaway shop, a manslaughter committal hearing heard yesterday.
Witness Helen Skotadis said Mr Walsh was lying on the ground, turning blue, and that “even his hands were turning blue”.
Ms Skotadis was giving evidence at the committal hearing of Tobias Simmons, who has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of Dubliner Mr Walsh (23) in October 2009.
The court previously heard Mr Walsh and his brother Ciarán had been drinking on and off from 8am on the day of the altercation.
Mr Walsh never regained consciousness after allegedly being punched by Mr Simmons at about 11pm on October 25th, 2009, at a kebab shop in the Sydney suburb of Coogee. He died four days later.
Ms Skotadis told magistrate Carolyn Barkell she was waiting in the Coogee Yeeros takeaway shop for a friend, and saw what she described as a shorter man in front of her talking to two other males at the counter.
She could not hear what was said, but it “did not seem aggressive in any kind of way”.
Ms Skotadis said she saw food coming out of the taller man’s mouth in the direction of the shorter man, and as she left the shop she saw the shorter man hit the taller man once.
“He stumbled back and went out of my view,” she said. “It was a pretty big hit.”
She saw the man on the ground outside, and he was turning blue. “The brother was very emotional . . . then he took off up the street,” Ms Skotadis said.
Ciarán Walsh had previously told the court that Gearóid’s face “went blank” after he was hit.
“His lips were blue, he wasn’t breathing, he was completely lifeless, and I was panicking,” Mr Walsh said.
Prosecutor Adelle Hudson said there was no question that Mr Simmons punched Mr Walsh. “The issue is exactly what happened to the deceased immediately after the punch,” she said.
The hearing continues.