Court proceedings:The planned retrial of Dermot Laide for the manslaughter of Brian Murphy almost six years ago was abandoned yesterday when counsel for the DPP entered a nolle prosequi. When the case was called before Judge Michael White in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court Edward Comyn SC, for the DPP, said: "The court has been aware of ongoing evidential difficulties in this case.
Those difficulties could not be overcome and in those circumstances the DPP could not proceed."
He said he had received a report last Friday which led to the decision to enter a nolle prosequi.
Michael O'Higgins SC, counsel for Mr Laide, said they had no objection.
Judge White then asked Mr Laide to stand up, and said he was entering a nolle prosequi in the record. "I direct that you be discharged. You are free to go." The whole hearing took five minutes.
This brought to an end the legal saga that began with the tragic death of Brian Murphy outside Anabel's disco in Ballsbridge on August 31st, 2000.
He died following a brawl that involved several young men, including four former Blackrock College pupils, Andrew Frame, Dermot Laide, Seán Mackey and Desmond Ryan. The four were later charged with manslaughter and violent disorder.
In his opening address to the jury in the original trial just over two years ago, Mr Comyn said there was a disagreement between Mr Murphy and Mr Frame which later developed into something far more serious.
That hearing heard how Mr Murphy got isolated from a larger group and was knocked to the ground, where he was kicked in the head and body by a group of possibly six people, but at least four. The fight lasted only a short time, but he was rendered unconscious. He was taken to St Vincent's Hospital, where he died.
The then State pathologist, Prof John Harbison, performed a postmortem examination. He found that his teeth were damaged, there was a cut to his right eye socket and upper lip, and bruising to his legs and back.
He died as a result of brain damage, inhalation of blood and multiple facial injuries, due to considerable violence being inflicted on him, Mr Comyn said.
"It is the prosecution's case that the four accused were part of a group which were attacking Brian Murphy when he was isolated and outnumbered," he said.
He told the court that the prosecution were not claiming the accused intended to kill Mr Murphy or cause him serious bodily harm, but that they did intend to hurt him.
During the trial Prof Harbison gave evidence of the likely cause of Mr Murphy's death. He said that the injuries to his eye-socket and lower jaw were due to blows or kicks from a hard object, possibly a shoe or a boot.
He said that his muscles had been loosened by the alcohol he drank that night, but he did not appear to have drunk "an excessive amount".
In the course of the trial Mr Frame was acquitted by direction of the trial judge. Mr Ryan was convicted of violent disorder, and acquitted of the manslaughter charge. Both Mr Laide and Mr Mackey were also convicted of violent disorder, but the jury failed to agree on a verdict on the manslaughter charge against Mr Mackey. However, it convicted Mr Laide. This left Mr Laide as the only one of the four convicted of manslaughter.
He appealed against the conviction to the Court of Criminal Appeal. The appeal concentrated on the manner in which a statement made by Mr Mackey was edited, which, counsel for Mr Laide said, identified him as kicking Mr Murphy, while there was no witness evidence of him doing so. He admitted punching him, but not kicking him.
Allowing his appeal, the three judges of this court said: "There is a real possibility that they [ the jury] convicted Dermot Laide because they believed that he was the person who kicked Brian Murphy. They could only have reached this conclusion from the statement of Seán Mackey." They then ordered a retrial, which was due to start yesterday.
However, last Friday the present State Pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy, produced a statement based on an analysis of the material assembled by Prof Harbison. Her conclusions differed from those of Prof Harbison, in that she said the injuries sustained by Mr Murphy were "relatively minor", and would not be expected to cause his death.
She pointed out that a relatively small amount of alcohol had been shown to give rise to severe outcomes from relatively minor head injuries, resulting in cessation of breathing and, in some cases, death.