A homeless man accused of murdering another man at a derelict house in Cork in 1997 has denied having anything to do with an attack on him and said he was being blamed in the wrong.
Mr William Carroll (52) was giving evidence at the Central Criminal Court yesterday. He denies the murder of Mr Thomas Harte (40), of Allen's Square, Ballymacthomas, Cork, in a derelict house on Leitrim Street, in the city, between May 19th-20th 1997.
Mr Carroll told the court that about a day before the killing he invited Mr Harte to stay at the disused house where he and a number of other down-and-outs stayed. On the night in question, Mr Harte was beaten with bottles and other weapons when Mr Carroll and a number of others were drinking in the house.
The accused told Mr Tim Bracken, defending, that during the night Mr Harte had told his 18 year-old nephew to go home, asking him if he "wanted to be like the others when he got older". He denied that he encouraged his nephew to beat the victim by claiming that Mr Harte was involved with the death of his brother ten years earlier.
The trial continues today.