A witness told a murder trial that a man accused of murdering another man in a derelict house in Cork in 1997 claimed the victim had been responsible for the death of the accused's brother.
Mr Michael Flynn, one of a group of homeless men drinking in the house on the night of the incident, was giving evidence yesterday in the Central Criminal Court on the third day of the retrial of Mr William Carroll (52).
Mr Carroll, of no fixed address, has denied the murder of Mr Thomas Harte, (40) of Ballymacthomas, Cork, in a derelict house on Leitrim Street, Cork, between May 19th and 20th, 1997.
Mr Flynn said he had been staying in the house, known as "the skip", for about a week with the accused, his nephew and a few other homeless men. Mr Harte had been staying there for about three days. On the night of the incident, he told Mr Denis Vaughan Buckley SC, for the prosecution, the accused "swiped" Mr Harte in the head with a toaster.
The accused said to his nephew who was drinking with them, "that's the man who killed your father in the Long Valley pub ... that's the man that killed my lovely brother, my lovely brother", Mr Flynn said.
On hearing this, the younger man went "berserk", Mr Flynn said. He "went to the yard and came back with a bottle and trampled the man", he said. The victim then had an epileptic fit.