A 41-year-old woman discarded a knife used in a fatal stabbing in an effort to help the man responsible evade prosecution, a barrister for the State has told the Central Criminal Court.
Lisa Lee, of Conyngham Road, Dublin has denied that on March 29th, 2021 at Spring Garden Lane in Dublin, knowing or believing that Noel Lennon had unlawfully killed Isaac Horgan on the same day, she discarded the knife used by Lennon during the unlawful killing.
Jury selection was completed on Wednesday morning and Ms Lee was arraigned before the Central Criminal Court where she replied “not guilty” when the charge on the indictment was put to her by the court registrar.
Opening the case for the State, Shane Costello SC told the jury they would hear Ms Lee had discarded a knife over a piece of construction hoarding at a building site.
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He said it is the prosecution’s case that Ms Lee threw the knife away and did this in an effort to help Mr Lennon evade being prosecuted for the crime.
He told them they would hear that, unusually, a great many facts in the case are agreed.
Counsel for Ms Lee, Ronan Munro SC, made a number of formal admissions on behalf of Ms Lee pursuant to Section 22 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.
He said it is accepted that Ms Lee was in the company of Noel Lennon on the morning of March 29th, 2021 and that Mr Lennon has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Isaac Horgan.
Counsel said it is also accepted that Isaac Horgan’s phone was seized during a lawful search at a premises at Alexander Court, Dundrum and that it was this phone that was used by Ms Lee to call emergency services on the morning of March 29th, 2021.
It was further conceded that all exhibits during that search were lawfully seized and that all CCTV footage collected and collated was lawfully obtained and collected.
Mr Costello gave the jury a brief overview of the evidence they will hear during the case.
He told them Isaac Horgan lived in a studio flat in Markievicz House and on the morning of March 29th, 2021 he went out to get his dole and then went to the shop to buy a couple of items before going home.
Counsel said it is the State’s case that very shortly thereafter Ms Lee, in the company of a man called Noel Lennon, went to Isaac Horgan’s flat and while there Mr Lennon stabbed Mr Horgan in the leg, hitting an artery which led the deceased to bleed to death in his apartment.
He told the jury of seven women and five men none of that is contested and they would be told that Mr Lennon pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Horgan.
The barrister told the jury members they would hear how emergency services were called and said they would view footage of Ms Lee going to Mr Horgan’s flat and leaving again before discarding a knife over a piece of construction hoarding at a building site.
The home of Ms Lee and Mr Lennon was searched, and a handset of a phone was found, counsel said, adding that phone was used to call 999.
Mr Costello told the jury they would hear Ms Lee was arrested and questioned and that she had nothing to do with harming Mr Horgan.
Concluding his opening address, Mr Costello said it is alleged that in throwing the knife away Ms Lee was acting with the intention of helping Mr Lennon evade justice for having just killed Mr Horgan.
He told the jury the prosecution’s job is to put forward the evidence that it says proves the guilt of the accused. “Ultimately you will decide if the prosecution has met its burden in proving the case against Ms Lee,” he said.
Evidence was also heard from Thomas Cullen who said he met Noel Lennon, known to him as Jock, in a medical centre on the morning of May 29th.
He told Mr Costello Jock gave him a SIM card and told him to dump it. Mr Cullen said he subsequently threw it down a drain.
He told prosecuting counsel he met Ms Lee a short time later and she said Jock might have killed someone.
However, when questioned about what Ms Lee had said by Mr Munro, he said Ms Lee told him “Jock had done someone damage”.
Under re-examination from Mr Costello, Mr Cullen said he couldn’t remember the exact words but “something happened” and “she was shook up”.
“When he gave you the SIM card you thought there was something ropy about it?” Mr Munro asked. “It stunk a bit yeah,” Mr Cullen replied.
Asked why he didn’t just say no to Jock, Mr Cullen said: “It was just a spur of the moment thing, you don’t think about these things. I just threw it away.”
The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Tony Hunt and a jury of seven women and five men.