Polish stabbing case: Prosecution ask for murder convictions against both accused
A Central Criminal Court jury has been told that if ever there was a case of murder, then the stabbing in the heads of two Polish men outside their home was it.
John O’Kelly SC was giving the closing speech for the prosecution in the trial of two Dubliners charged with murdering the mechanics.
Pawel Kalite (aged 28) and Marius Szwajkos (aged 27) died after being stabbed through their skulls with a screw driver on Benbulben Road, Drimnagh on February 23, 2008.
David Curran (aged 19) of Lissadel Green, Drimnagh has pleaded not guilty to murdering them but guilty to their manslaughter.
Seán Keogh (aged 21) of Vincent Street West, Inchicore has pleaded not guilty to the double murder.
“If you attack someone with a screw driver, you’re going to cause death or at least serious injury,” said Mr O’Kelly. “I’m asking you to bring in a verdict of guilty against both men on both charges.”
Mr O’Kelly said that both defendants did what they set out to do, to attack the two mechanics.
“You have the clear admission from David Curran that he stabbed these men in the head,” he said. “Seán Keogh was part of the common design.”
Keogh said he was with his ‘mate’ when he got a call to say there was a fight, he reminded the jury. They went to the scene together to sort out whoever was in the fight, Curran with a screw driver in his hand, as seen by several witnesses.
“It would be very odd if the only person not aware of the screw driver was Seán Keogh,” he said.
He pointed out that Keogh kicked one of the men in the head after Curran stabbed him.
“He wasn’t so horrified at seeing someone stabbed through the skull that he said: ‘Hang on, I don’t want to be any part of this’,” he said.
Mr O’Kelly said he did not accept David Curran’s defence of provocation, which could reduce murder to manslaughter. Curran said he believed his father had been stabbed and was therefore ‘out of control’.
Mr O’Kelly said that the provocation defence required a sudden, temporary and total loss of self control such that at the critical moment an accused was not master of his mind.
He described as ‘a concoction’ Curran’s story of receiving a call to say his father had been stabbed.
He reminded the jury that a teenaged girl testified to ringing him to tell him there was a fight at the chipper but she said there was no mention of his father.
Mr O’Kelly said the defence had not called as a witness the person who allegedly told Curran that his father had been stabbed. He also questioned why Curran would not have rung his father immediately on hearing he was wounded.
Mr O’Kelly described as shocking, cold and callous the text messages sent and received by Curran that night, which he admitted were an attempt to cover up and create an alibi.
“Just a few hours before, he viciously assaulted two men by sticking a screw driver through their brains. They were mortally wounded,” he said. “What is he concerned about later in the day? Is there one word in those texts expressing the least shock, remorse or horror?”
Giollaiosa O Lideadha SC, defending Curran, said that it would be much better if we had a law here that allowed for different degrees of manslaughter and murder. He said the system would operate in a fairer way if we had.
He pointed out that manslaughter ranged from the lowest form where there’s no intent to cause serious harm, giving the example of someone punching another, who falls on a broken bottle and dies.
“This is at the highest range because it involves intent, voluntary intoxication and the vicious killing of two human beings,” he said of his client’s case. “They should have a law to say so.”
However no such law exists in Ireland, he said.
“That’s why I have to ask you to apply a law that many people think makes it too easy for accused people,” he said, referring to the defence of provocation.
“But this is very different to a bullet in the back of a head by a gangster,” he suggested. “That is murder one in my book, a cold calculated killing. But my book doesn’t count.”
Earlier Mr O Lideadha called a neuro-pharmacologist to give evidence of the action within the brain of drugs Curran said he took that day.
Dr Brian Kirby said benzodiazepines were anti-anxiety medicines but sometimes had the opposite effect, leading to agitation and in some cases rages and aggression.
The incidence of such reactions was low, he said, but more common in certain populations including adolescents and those with aggressive tendencies and a history of alcohol abuse.
He said alcohol was a Central Nervous System depressant and reduced normal behaviour controls. He added that while cannabis would be expected to reduce anxiety, studies showed some users reported increased anxiety.
Mr O Lideadha will conclude his closing speech on Tuesday, when the jury of eight women and four men will also hear from Seán Keogh’s legal team and Mr Justice Liam McKechnie.
