A YOUNG man died as his father rushed him to hospital in his hackney cab, suffering from a single stab wound to his back inflicted an hour earlier outside a pub in the east Galway village of Glenamaddy last December.
Francis Fahy (20), O’Keeffe Park, Glenamaddy, was pronounced dead on arrival at Roscommon General Hospital at 2.30am on December 15th last year. The cause of death was a single stab wound in the back, which penetrated his ribcage under his shoulder blade and punctured his right lung, which collapsed.
Pat Doherty (46), originally from Glasgow, who had been living at Clooncon West, Glenamaddy, for 10 years, denied murdering Mr Fahy at The Square, Glenamaddy, on the opening day of his trial yesterday at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Galway.
Michael Delaney, prosecuting, refused to accept a plea by Doherty to the manslaughter of Mr Fahy. A jury of seven men and five women was sworn in to hear evidence in the murder trial, which, Mr Justice Paul Carney indicated, would last two weeks.
Doherty did plead guilty to assaulting Gerard Costello (30), causing him harm on the same date.
Mr Delaney told the jury there was no sign of life by the time Mr Fahy’s father, John Joe, arrived at Roscommon hospital with his son, who was pronounced dead on arrival at 2.30am, an hour after receiving the injury. Mr Delaney said it would be the prosecution’s case that Doherty had been drinking pints and occasional shorts in various pubs in Glenamaddy from noon on December 14th and had ended up in Harte’s pub that night where Mr Costello and Mr Fahy had been drinking together.
He said it was unclear whether there was some form of exchange between Mr Costello and Doherty or if Mr Costello was taunting and abusive to Doherty, but what was clear, Mr Delaney added, was that Doherty left Harte’s pub, drove home in his car, took a long-bladed knife from the kitchen, got back into his car and drove back down to Harte’s pub.
The trial continues today.