An Englishman went on trial yesterday charged with slashing the back of a doorman in a Dublin city centre bar on the night before the Lansdowne Road soccer riot in 1995.
Mr Michael Williams (26), of Pine Tree Lodge, Slaley Hall, Northumberland, pleaded not guilty to four charges at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. He denied maliciously wounding Mr Derek Doherty with intent to maim, disfigure or disable him or to cause grievous bodily harm. He also denied maliciously wounding Mr Doherty, assaulting him, occasioning actual bodily harm and violent disorder.
The charges relate to an alleged incident in McGrath's public house, on O'Connell Street at about 1 a.m. on February 15, 1995.
Mr Doherty denied a suggestions made by Mr Adrian Hardiman SC, defending, that his memory of the incident was "playing him false" and that Mr Williams was not present in the premises at the time.
