The jury in the trial of a 40-year-old man accused of murdering mother-of-two Lisa Thompson have been watching a CCTV montage of what the prosecution say are the defendant's movements near the deceased's home on the night of the killing nearly three years ago.
Brian McHugh (40), with an address at Cairn Court, Poppintree, Ballymun in Dublin 11, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Thompson (52) at Sandyhill Gardens, Ballymun in Dublin 11 on May 9th, 2022.
In her opening speech, counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions Fiona Murphy SC said Ms Thompson's body was found inside the door of her home with multiple stab wounds to the chest and a window blind cord wrapped around the neck. She said the 12 jurors would hear that a mixed DNA profile was found on the blind cord, to which the accused man couldn't be excluded as a minor contributor.
The trial has heard witness evidence that Ms Thompson, who was stabbed 11 times in the chest, was dealing prescription drugs from her home.
A pathologist has also given evidence that Ms Thompson's death occurred because of a combination of ligature strangulation causing asphyxia and multiple stab wounds to the left side of the chest.
Garda Michelle Purcell, from Santry Garda Station, today began taking prosecution counsel Ms Murphy through a montage of CCTV footage which showed a named woman driving a Hyundai Tucson on the evening of May 8th and into May 9th, 2022.
The Hyundai can be seen turning into Sandyhill Gardens at 1.24am. Describing the footage, Garda Purcell said there is a lane at the back of the houses.
The witness said the back walls and back gates of Sandyhill Gardens are visible on the footage and the Hyundai can be seen driving down the lane.
The witness said a passenger gets out of the Hyundai and walks back up the lane as the car continues down the cul-de-sac.
At 1.27am, a man can be seen walking out of Marewood Crescent into Sandyhill Gardens followed by the Hyundai.
Ms Murphy said it is the prosecution case that the male is the accused Brian McHugh. However, Brendan Grehan SC, defending, asked that the male be referred to as "the man" for now.
At 1.27am, the man can be seen on a footpath and speaking with the driver of the Hyundai when the vehicle pulls up. The man continues walking towards Balbutcher Lane and the car follows.
The Garda said the man can be seen entering Sandyhill Court at 1.30am and has "some sort of a light in his hand".
Garda Purcell identified the front door of Ms Thompson's house and said that a faint light could be seen "coming on" in the footage at 1.50am.
At 2.28am the Hyundai, which has no headlights on except for its front spotlights, is seen "travelling down into" Sandyhill Gardens.
The Hyundai is seen turning off Marewood Crescent into Sandyhill Gardens at 2.48am and two minutes later a man with "something in his hand" can be seen walking in the same direction.
Around 2.54am a man can be seen in the front passenger seat of the Hyundai as the vehicle drives onto Balbutcher Lane.
The jury saw the vehicle coming out of Balbutcher Lane and onto the Ballymun Road in the direction of the M50 at 2.56am.
The Hyundai drives into an Applegreen service station on St Margaret's Road in Swords after 3am.
Earlier, the deceased's neighbour Joan Landy told the prosecutor that she and Ms Thompson were close and got on well.
The witness said she went to throw rubbish in her garden bin around 1.30am in the early hours of May 10th and noticed Ms Thompson's kitchen light on and the blinds half open, which she thought was "very strange".
Around 4.20am the witness briefly heard a woman's voice in the back garden and then a back gate opening. She also heard a vehicle pulling away around 4.30am.
Ms Lundy said that whoever had left Ms Thompson's house had pulled the back gate behind them but that the bolt wasn't pulled across so it was left unlocked. She said Ms Thompson hadn't "let anyone out of her house" that night as she always left the back gate locked.
Under cross-examination, Ms Lundy told Mr Grehan that she heard banging on the wall from Ms Thompson's house around 4.20am and she thought the deceased was giving her a signal to turn down her music.
The trial continues tomorrow before Ms Justice Karen O'Connor and a jury of four men and eight women.
