THE BEST friend of murdered Robert McCartney yesterday told a court he will “never forget” the expression on his alleged killer’s face “till the day I die”.
Giving evidence at the Belfast Crown Court trial, Brendan Devine said he himself had been attacked and had his throat cut but that at one point he saw 61-year-old Terence Davison “gouging” at McCartney’s face “in a really evil way”.
Mr Davison denies killing the 30-year-old father of two in January 2005 while his co-accused, James McCormick (39) and Joseph Fitzpatrick, both deny causing an affray.
Mr Devine said they had been drinking and watching football in Magennis’s Bar when an argument broke out over a rude gesture which Mr McCartney had made, with Mr Davison’s wife mistakenly thinking it was directed at her.
He claimed he had tried to calm the situation down and offered to buy drinks but that the next thing he knew he was hit over the head with a bottle and his throat was cut three times. He showed the court the scarring on his neck.
Mr Devine said that, covered in blood, he went outside with Mr McCartney and two other men, but they were followed by up to six men and chased into Market Street. “All I can remember,” said Mr Devine, “was turning around and seeing someone grinning in an evil way”. He told the court that he later identified his attacker from a police line-up as Mr McCormick.
As he fled the scene, Mr Devine told the court he looked back and saw Mr McCartney standing “with his hands up, shouting ‘nobody deserves this’ ” and he saw Mr Davison “gouging at his face”.
He said the attacker was the “older man” who had appeared “more respectable” in the bar and had demanded an apology.
Under cross-examination from Mr Davison’s counsel, Orlando Pownall QC, Mr Devine denied changing his account of where he saw the alleged gouging to “dovetail in with the evidence that you anticipate witness C will say”.
Mr Devine said he told police Mr Davison was not part of the group which came from the bar or the group which chased himself and McCartney and agreed that although he has claimed he saw Mr Davison gouging McCartney, there was no weapon in his hands.
Mr Pownall suggested to Mr Devine that McCartney suffered the fatal stab wound in Market Street, evidenced by the fact that that was where Mr Devine saw him “slumped” apparently unconscious on the ground.
Mr Devine said that at the time he had “police security around me with guns and people saying to me I was going down a hole – in my mind I had to be careful what I said because of the nature of these people and where they came from.” The trial continues.