Two men killed a Clare man four years after he slashed one of them in the face with a knife, the Central Criminal Court has heard. One witness told the court that the victim's eye was hanging out of his head after he was attacked in Ennis town centre.
The two accused, Mr Michael Nihill (26), Clarecastle, Co Clare, and Mr Joseph O'Halloran (30), New Park Road, London, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to the manslaughter of Mr Michael Shannon (34), Connolly Villas, Ennis on April 2nd, 2000.
A jury was sworn in to hear the murder trial after the DPP refused to accept their manslaughter pleas as sufficient.
Opening the prosecution case, Mr Shane Murphy SC said intention to commit murder was the key factor in the trial, as the two accused had already plead ed guilty to manslaughter.
Outlining the prosecution case, he said Michael Shannon went drinking with his friend, Mr Edward O'Grady, in the cafe bar in the Queen's hotel in Ennis on the morning of Sunday, April 2nd.
At about 4 p.m., they walked towards nearby Parnell Street and passed the two accused. Mr Shannon had slashed Mr O'Halloran with a knife four years previously and relations between the two men were strained. As the two accused were passing by, Mr O'Halloran spat on the ground.
Mr O'Grady was afraid there would be trouble and he and Mr Shannon went into a pub. Mr Shannon left and the two accused met him in laneway nearby. Mr Shannon was struck and fell on the ground. Mr Murphy said one witness saw a man being kicked and beaten.
Mr Murphy said that there was clear evidence that the two accused killed Mr Shannon, as they has admitted, but also that they had committed murder.
Mr O'Grady told the court that he walked away as fast as he could after the initial incident in the street with the two accused. He went into a pub nearby and Mr Shannon went to the back of the building.
Mr Shannon went out the back door and Mr O'Grady stayed in the pub. When he went out the back door, he saw the two accused walking away. Mr Shannon was lying in a laneway with blood coming out of his mouth. His eye was hanging out of his head and his clothes were ripped.
Mr O'Grady agreed with Mr Barry White SC, defending, that he had been drinking heavily the day before and was drinking for five hours with Mr Shannon on the day of the killing. He denied suggestions that Mr Shannon shouted abuse at the two accused earlier.
The trial continues.