A Cork man co-charged with murder after putting a man into a coma yesterday admitted assaulting him. The man died nine months later.
Mr Ross Stapleton told a murder trial that that he had carried out most of the assault and took "full responsibility".
However, his co-accused, Mr Paul Sheehan, told the trial that gardaí did not read over five statements that he made. "I made half of it, the other half (of the statement) isn't mine," Mr Sheehan said. Mr Sheehan (21), The Glen, Cork and Mr Stapleton (21), also of The Glen have pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Christian Scully (28), Togher, Cork, on October 17th, 2002.
Mr Scully was on a life support machine after being set upon by youths at Sober Lane in the city centre in the early hours of January 28th before he suffered a cardiac arrest nine months later and died on October 17th.
Mr Stapleton yesterday testified in the sixth day of the murder trial, saying: "I am sorry for everything. To this day, I still don't know why I did it. I was twisted."
Under cross-examination by Ms Mary Ellen Ring SC, prosecuting, Mr Stapleton said he drank a cocktail of pints of Heineken, Red Bull and vodka and Aftershock from 3 p.m. that day.
When Mr Stapleton got into the Temple nightclub sometime after midnight, he claimed he was annoyed after his girlfriend would not talk to him. He was thrown out of the club by the bouncers for fighting. When he got out he met Mr Sheehan who was waiting for him and they had words.
Mr Stapleton yesterday said he saw Mr Sheehan go around the corner into Sober Lane. He said Mr Sheehan tripped Mr Scully up and he fell to the ground.
Ms Ring asked Mr Stapleton why he did not just walk away, to which he replied, "I don't know".
She then re-read the statement Mr Stapleton gave the gardaí on January 30th, 2002, in which he said: "We just beat him to death. We just kept beating him. We used our fists and legs.
"We just kept hitting him and beating him, hitting and beating him and standing on him.
"When we lifted him up his face was like a tap, there was blood everywhere," Mr Stapleton told gardaí.
Ms Ring asked Mr Stapleton did that describe what went on in Sober Lane in the early hours of January 28th, 2002, to which he replied, "yes". Mr Stapleton told the jury of nine women and three men that he had never met Mr Scully before and that he never did anything to him.
"But you killed him," Ms Ring said to him, to which Mr Stapleton replied, "yeah, I didn't mean to".
Mr Sheehan yesterday denied he kicked Mr Scully in the head even though he had admitted doing so in his five signed statements to gardaí. Mr Sheehan said he never said he kicked Mr Scully in the head and that gardaí never read his five statements back to him.
Yet the jury heard that Mr Sheehan signed every one of the statements.
Ms Ring put it to Mr Stapleton that it was over one hour and 40 minutes after he had his last drink until Mr Scully was attacked and that he couldn't have been drunk. Mr Stapleton said he was drunk.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Paul Butler.