Murder accused ‘horrified’ that homeless man died in rubbish chute

A man accused of murdering a 59-year-old homeless today told a court that he never intended for the man to die when he put him in a refuse chute in his apartment complex.

David O'Loughlin (28) told the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork that he never thought that Liam Manley would die when he put him into the a refuse chute at the Garden City Apartments in Cork.

"I thought he would slide down in to the rubbish and go on about his business," Mr O'Loughlin told the jury of five men and seven women hearing the case before Mr Justice Paul Carney.

“I did not want him to die in that chute. I was horrified when I learned he had died in this chute. I could not believe my actions had led to the death of this man,” he said.

Mr O’Loughlin, a native of Co Clare, with an address at City Garden Apartments, North Main Street in Cork, denies the murder of Mr Manley at City Garden Apartments on May 12th 2013.

He told defence senior counsel, Brendan Nix SC that on the date in question, he had gone out in the early hours to get a meal from McDonald’s and he met Mr Manley whom he did not know.

He gave him some food and brought him back to his apartment because he empathised with him being homeless and they were later joined by another man, David O’Mahony.

Mr O'Loughlin said Mr O'Mahony said he knew Mr Manley from the Simon Community and there had been some situation involving Mr Manley and a girl, that had been too disgusting to describe.

He knew now that was not true and he did not want to blacken the late Mr Manley’s name but at the time, he punched him twice and told him to leave, Mr O’Loughlin told the court.

Mr O’Loughlin said that, when the other man in the room made references to paedophilia in relation to Mr Manley, “it brought up a lot of shit for me. I got uncomfortable with the situation”.

Cross-examined by prosecution counsel Sean Gillane SC, Mr O’Loughlin denied he wanted to get rid of Mr Manley because he was “walking talking evidence” of Mr O’Louglin assaulting him.

Mr O’Loughlin said he just wanted Mr Manley to leave the apartment. “I picked him up and tipped him into the chute. I did not think what was going to happen,” he said.

“I thought this (putting Mr Manley in the chute) would be a way of moving him from my apartment,” said Mr O’Loughlin in reply to a question why he could not have put Mr Manley in the lift.

He denied that had he had put Mr Manley into the chute backwards or that there was any struggle with him. “I thought there would be a gradual fall into rubbish,” he said.

“You are trying to make me out to be a f***ing horrible bastard that I went out to kill this man. If I had known he was in that chute I would have gone to get help.”

The case continues.