A Balbriggan man went on trial at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin yesterday accused of murdering another man in the town two years ago with a knife that cost just 50p.
Mr Alan Rooney (29), of Curran Park, Balbriggan, pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr David Hammond (24), also of Curran Park, in the Green, Pump Lane, Balbriggan, on April 27th, 1996.
Opening the prosecution case, Ms Maureen Clark SC told the jury the State would bring evidence that on the night of the killing Mr Rooney was heard to say he was going down town to kill someone.
Mr Hammond, who was also known as "the Grem", had been drinking with friends that night and became involved in a fight with another man at around 1:10 a.m. on the 27th. When he came upon the two men fighting, witnesses would say, Mr Rooney set upon Mr Hammond and stabbed him.
Mr Hammond did not immediately fall, but went on fighting with the other man. It was only after the other man punched him to the ground and Mr Hammond did not get up that his stab wound was noticed, Ms Clark said.
Mr Rooney's attack on Mr Hammond was "without reason, without motive", she said. The knife was later given to gardai by Mr Rooney. It was a cheap kitchen knife, one of two bought in a Balbriggan shop for a pound.
It was barely adequate for the task it was given, she said. "It was 50 pence, but it killed someone."
Giving evidence, a friend of the deceased man, Mr Jimmy Dyas, told the court that on the night he died Mr Hammond had been drinking "a few beers" with him on the corner of Quay Street. The two went up to a local chip shop, where Mr Hammond began arguing with another man.
His friend "wasn't locked" but he would describe him as "halfjarred". Mr Hammond was exchanging "fighting talk" with the other man and they were squaring up to each other. Mr Dyas knew there was bad blood between them over words they had exchanged some weeks previously.
Mr Dyas recalled Mr Quintin Kelly intervening in the developing row. Mr Kelly told the court he had been with the other man drinking. This other man asked him to walk across the road with him "because he was afraid the Grem would want to have a go at him".
Ms Elaine McKenna and her mother, Maura, gave evidence of hearing a knock on their door at around 1:15 a.m. on the 27th. "I just ignored it because it happens all the time on Hampton Street," Mrs McKenna said.
The knocking grew louder, and Ms McKenna said she went to the window and saw three men outside. She knew all three. They shouted that someone had been stabbed and asked if they could use the phone.
One of the men had mud on one leg of his jeans and blood on the back of his hands, Ms McKenna said. She noticed the blood when he was ringing for an ambulance. The men told her Mr Grem Hammond had been stabbed and the person who did it had run down the street.
"I told them I would ring for the guards," Ms McKenna told the court. The prosecution case continues today before Ms Justice McGuinness and a jury.