A 20-year-old Co Louth man who is accused of the murder of his infant nephew told gardaí that he had strangled the child before trussing him up with rope and dropping him from a railway bridge on to the water below, the Central Criminal Court heard yesterday.
David Brennan (20), of Marsh Road, Drogheda, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of 17-month-old Jack Everitt Brennan at or near Marsh Road on February 29th or March 1st, 2000.
Mr Michael Durack SC, prosecuting, told the jury that they had to decide whether, at the time of the killing, the accused man was of sound or unsound mind.
Mr Durack told the court that the accused man lived with his mother, Patricia Brennan, and his sister, Barbara, the baby's mother. On February 29th 2000, Barbara Brennan put the baby to bed at about 7.30 or 8 p.m. and checked on him at about 9 p.m. Sometime after midnight she noticed that the accused man and the child's buggy was missing.
She rang her mother, who had gone to a friend's house, and both women began searching for the accused man. They found David Brennan at 1.30 a.m. He had clay marks on him. The buggy was found at Carmelite Cottages.
At 10.20 a.m. on March 1st Barbara Brennan rang the gardaí, who subsequently found the baby's body lying face down in water near a disused quarry. The body was trussed with orange nylon rope to which a brick had been attached.
Mr Durack said that the child was dead before he hit the water.
The previous day, Patricia Brennan had taken the accused man to St Brigid's Psychiatric Hospital in Ardee, where he had been seen by a registrar, Dr M.S. Das. The accused man was unwilling to be admitted to hospital and was prescribed medication and advised to return within a fortnight.
In evidence, Garda John Yorke said he went to the home of the accused man at about 10.35 a.m. on March 1st after the gardaí were notified of the baby's disappearance. He said he spoke to David Brennan and asked him where the baby was. At first, there was no response. Then the accused man replied in a low voice that the baby "was in the quarry".
The witness told the jury that the accused man eventually agreed to show gardaí where the quarry was, but at first refused to get into the patrol car. He subsequently agreed to accompany the gardaí to the quarry. "I then asked him where the baby was," said Garda Yorke. "He pointed to the left towards the viaduct. I saw the body of a baby lying face down in the water."
Garda Yorke said that when the accused man was in custody he told gardaí that he had taken the baby from his bed at 12.55 a.m. He then took him to the viaduct, where he strangled him and trussed the body up with rope. He tied a brick to the end of the rope before dropping the body from the bridge.
The trial continues.