Father died from blunt force trauma to the head, murder trial jury told

The accused told gardaí that he hit his father three times and kicked him once when he came home drunk after midnight having failed to get his parents’ dinner.

When the deceased failed to get up, the accused left him lying in the garden overnight with a pillow and duvet. When asked why he did not ring for an ambulance the accused told gardaí: “I said I was done with him, I wasn’t going to help him anymore”.

State Pathologist, Professor Marie Cassidy, told Patrick Gageby SC, prosecuting, that the deceased had a high level of alcohol in his system at the time of his death and probably died around five or six hours after his last drink. The jury earlier heard evidence that the deceased had been seen drinking at around 11.30pm.

The jury had heard that the deceased had arrived home after midnight and an altercation with the accused occurred. The deceased was then left lying on his back in the garden overnight with a pillow and duvet. The accused called an ambulance the next morning.

Prof. Cassidy said the deceased had injuries to his head, face and neck including bruising to his eyes, nose, mouth sides of his face and neck. He had two bruises to the back of his head and the skin had split and was bleeding.

Small bones in the deceased’s neck were broken and he suffered fractured ribs.

His skull was not fractured but he suffered bleeding into his skull and brain which created intracranial pressure. Prof. Cassidy said “an acute haemorrhage” to the brain caused unconsciousness.

She said the cumulative effect of multiple impacts to the head would have led to that haemorrhage. Injuries to the deceased’s chest would have hampered his ability to breathe, complicating his condition. She said he exhibited no signs of having defended himself.

Under cross examination by defence counsel, Brendan Grehan SC, Prof. Cassidy agreed that it was particularly difficult to pinpoint the cause of death in cases of “subdural haemorrhage”. She also agreed that the injuries may have consistent with the account given by the accused.

She agreed that any impact to the deceased’s head in the 24-hour period before his death would have had some significance. The jury earlier heard that the deceased was seen falling outside a pub in Castlerea in the hours before the altercation.

Garda John Costello agreed with Geraldine Small BL, prosecuting, that the accused gave an account of the incident during garda interviews the day after the death.

The accused told gardaí that his father had been receiving a carer’s allowance of €300 per week in relation to his elderly parents with whom they lived. The accused said he looked after his grandparents and the deceased drank the money.

He said he did not think that he should have been getting the money but he did not like the fact that his father was taking advantage of two pensioners.

On the day leading up to his death the deceased’s father asked him to go to the chip shop in the afternoon to buy dinner. The deceased left the house after 3pm and was seen in a number of pubs in Castlerea and Ballinlough. He returned home after midnight.

The accused told gardaí that he had looked for his father in every pub in Ballinlough and was sitting in the porch when his father got home. He said he thought his father did not have a key and would ring the doorbell which would wake his grandparents.

The accused said he went out to his father and grabbed him by the neck. He demanded to know where the deceased had been. He said he punched his father in the face once and his father fell to the ground. He said he had never hit anyone so hard in his life.

He initially told gardaí he hit his father only once but told Garda Costello that he then kneeled on his father’s chest and punched him two more times as he lay on the ground. He then kicked him in the stomach to get him up.

The accused’s grandfather came out to help get the deceased up but he fell back down and hit his head. He said the noise of his father hitting his head was “horrible” and he thought he had “smashed his head open”.

When asked why he did not call an ambulance at that point, the accused said that he said he was done with his father and was not going to help him anymore.

He said he and his grandfather got a duvet and pillow for the deceased and left the door open for him. In the morning the grandfather told the accused to ring an uncle to help get the deceased into the house and said he was breathing and moving at around 7.30am.

The accused said that when he saw his father he checked for a pulse and called an ambulance.

All evidence has now been heard in the case with the defence indicating that it will not call any evidence. Closing speeches will be heard on Friday and the jury is expected to begin its deliberations on Monday.