A former soldier from Sligo who became an alcoholic, died after his drinking partner struck him over the head with a wine bottle, a murder trial at the Central Criminal Court heard yesterday.
Mark Sweeney (22), Finisklin Road, Sligo, denies murdering 45-year-old Paul Watters, of Avondale, Sligo, at Stephen Mews, Sligo, on July 27th last year.
Tom O'Connell, prosecuting, told the jury Mr Watters was a member of the Defence Forces in the 1980s, but had since developed a "chronic problem with alcohol". He said the accused, who is unemployed, "moved in the same circles" as Mr Watters, and the two had been drinking together around Sligo on the eve of the killing.
He said a statement made by Mr Sweeney to gardaí on July 28th, 2004, was the "central pillar" of the prosecution's case.
In the statement, part of which Mr O'Connell read aloud in court, Mr Sweeney said he was drinking alone with Mr Watters in a lane beside Stephen Street car park in Sligo on the night of July 26th.
In jest Mr Watters told Mr Sweeney that he had slept with his mother, and that Mr Sweeney was actually his son.
Mr Sweeney responded by claiming he had slept with the deceased's daughter, and that they had a child together. A fight ensued between the two men.
In his statement Mr Sweeney described hitting Mr Watters over the head with a wine bottle, which broke with the force.
Mr Watters fell to the ground and his body was found the following morning by an architect who alerted gardaí.
Det Garda Shane Curran, of the Garda Technical Bureau, told the court it was clear from the scene that a "serious assault" had taken place. "I saw approximately five feet up the wall, just over where the deceased was lying, what appeared to be a blood spatter."
Garda Curran explained that a blood spatter suggested force had been applied to an already open wound.
The trial continues today.