Trial of man accused of murder at Dublin city apartment begins
A 38-year-old Dublin man has gone on trial charged with the murder of a man whose body was found wrapped in a duvet in the days following his death.
Anthony Locke (aged 38), with an address at Ramillies Road in Ballyfermot, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Christopher Jackson at his apartment on Prussia Street, between September 6 and 7, 2012.
Conor Devally SC, prosecuting, opened the trial for the jury today.
"In or about September 7, 2012, a house close to here on Prussia Street was occupied by a man named Christopher Jackson," he said.
"On the second floor was a lease holder (the accused) and a friend. Sometime previous they were joined by Anthony Locke's brother Bernard," he continued.
Mr Devally told the jury that there was a lot of drink and drug use among the witnesses who resided at this address.
"There had been some tension and conflict observed between Bernard, Anthony's brother and Christopher Jackson," he said.
"It boiled to the degree that on the 6th, coming into the 7th, there was a knock on the door when Christopher Jackson and his partner, Barbara Staunton, were in the ground floor flat," said Mr Devally.
He said the jury would hear evidence from Ms Staunton that she saw her partner falling "backward into the room with a knife embedded into him".
"She (Barbara Staunton) will offer evidence that Bernard and Anthony brought the injured through to the kitchen and she didn't see what happened," he said.
"She was brought into a bedroom by Bernard and events occurred there - subsequently she learned that Christopher was no more," he said.
He added: "It is not until Saturday (8th), that things break down. Gardaí find, in a wardrobe on the ground floor flat, wrapped in a duvet and plastic bag, the deceased man."
"You will hear what occurred between the act of the killing and these matters coming to light," he said.
He concluded: "Both men have been prosecuted - Bernard Locke pleaded guilty".
The trial continues before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury of six men and six women.
