A woman who tried to intervene when a young man from Liverpool was kicked and punched on a Dublin street told a murder trial jury yesterday how she was attacked when she went to his aid.
Ms Marie Hynes told the Central Criminal Court that she saw "four or five fellas jumping on the one fella" outside a pub in Thomas Street in April 1998. A crowd of onlookers were "egging them on and keeping the fight going". The man "didn't have a hope", she said.
She was giving evidence at the trial of Mr Alan Lyons (20), of Bonham Street, Dublin, who has admitted killing David Watson, a 21-year-old man from Liverpool who was working in Dublin, on Thomas Street on the night of April 25th 1998, but denies a charge of murder.
The court heard that Mr Watson was three times over the legal driving limit when he fell asleep at the wheel while waiting at a set of traffic lights on Thomas Street. When he pulled over to the side of the street, his van was attacked by a small group of youths.
The State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison, said that the deceased man was stabbed with a steak knife which went 5 1/2 inches into his chest, severing his pulmonary trunk and left lung.
Det Insp Declan Coburn agreed with the defence that after he told Mr Lyons that David Watson was dead, his attitude changed, he became very upset and admitted his involvement. He later told Det Sgt John Doyle that he found the knife on the ground while fighting with Mr Watson.
"He came towards me and I told him `Listen, f... off or I'll stab you'," Mr Lyons told gardai. "He still came towards me and I put the knife out. He made a move as if to dive at me. So I put my arm out and stuck it into him."
Det Sgt John Doyle told Mr Sammon that another youth had been charged with violent disorder in relation to the Thomas Street incident. He thought that youth had said that he had the knife initially during the row and may have said he passed it to Alan Lyons. The prosecution has said it will clarify that evidence today.
Ms Marie Hynes said that Mr Lyons was involved in the fight at all times. When he was in the back of a Garda patrol car after his arrest she had confronted him about his involvement. "He spat in my face and told me to f... off", she told Mr Patrick Marrinan SC, prosecuting.
She told Mr Marrinan that after the first fistfight, when David Watson tried to recover his van from some of the youths who were trying to get it started, she saw Mr Lyons punching him through the driver's window and trying to drag him out.
Mr Watson got out of the van again, she said, but was attacked once more by the youths.
She then saw a girl with a wheelbrace coming towards Mr Watson. "She came at him full force and smacked him with it in the face, right above the eye". She was then "reefed out of it" when she went to give out to the girl. While they fought, others attacked her.
Ms Hynes said that the accused man, Mr Lyons, took her handbag and made off with it. When she ran after him, she got it back.
The trial continues.