Courts

Garda witness tells murder trial of moment she found ‘severely beaten’ body of 79-year-old widower

Thomas Lorigan denies the murder of his uncle John O’Neill in Lisdoonvarna two years ago

21/04/2017 STOCK: The Courts of Criminal Justice on Parkgate St. Dublin Photograph: Dave Meehan/The Irish Times The Criminal Courts of Justice Exterior view CCJ

Thomas Lorigan is on trial at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin, charged with the murder of his uncle John O'Neill

Alison O'Riordan
Thu Jan 18 2024 - 21:19

A garda witness has described to a jury the moment she found the body of a 79-year-old widower, who had been “severely beaten” to the point where he was “unrecognisable”.

A witness also told the Central Criminal Court murder trial on Thursday that accused man Thomas Lorigan told him that he had a row with his uncle the night before the body was found.

Mr Lorigan (34), of no fixed abode has pleaded not guilty to murdering John O’Neill (79) at St Brendan’s Road, Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare between January 6th and 7th, 2022.

It is the prosecution’s case that the pensioner died after a vicious attack by his nephew, Mr Lorigan, who they submit had repeatedly kicked him to the head while wearing steel capped boots.

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Giving evidence on Thursday, Garda Louise Keogh told Eilis Brennan SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, that she was on duty at 8.06am on January 7th when she received a call to check the welfare of the owner of O’Neills B&B, due to an altercation the previous night.

The garda said there was no answer at the front door of the house but she could see a light on in the kitchen area when she walked through an archway towards the back. Her colleague, Garda Sarah Tubbert, attempted to open a side door with a set of keys but had no luck.

When Gda Keogh looked through frosted glass at the back of the house she could see a person lying on the ground. She found a man lying on the ground when they gained entry by breaking a window. “He was lifeless, severely beaten and there was blood at the top around his head. The man was unrecognisable and there was a broken vase beside his head,” she said.

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Gda Tubbert said she found a set of dentures on the footpath with blood on them and that there was a pool of blood inside the archway.

Walter Burke (56) told Ms Brennan that he lived alone in Lisdoonvarna and got to know the accused man, who he knew as ‘Mossy’, in a local pub in the weeks leading up to Christmas in 2021.

The witness said that ‘Mossy’ told him that he was “squatting” in a house “out the road”. Mr Burke said he washed the accused’s clothes on occasion and knew that the defendant had no electricity or cooking facilities where he lived. “He would charge his phone in my house as he had no electricity,” he added.

Mr Burke said the accused occasionally came to his home and had stayed the night at least three times.

The witness said the accused stayed in his house on January 5th and they had a few drinks together on the following day.

The witness said the accused left his house at one point on the night of January 6th. Mr Burke said the defendant returned to his house before midnight and told him that he had “a row with somebody”.

“I didn’t pay much attention to it, I thought it was an argument and that was it,” said the witness.

The witness said during the night the accused mentioned to him that he felt the row “was more serious than he first told me” and that somebody could be hurt.

Mr Burke said the next morning after “a third conversation about it” he began to think that the row was more serious than he had originally thought, that Mr O’Neill might be hurt and need medical help. The witness rang the emergency services when the accused went upstairs.

Under cross-examination, Mr Burke told Michael Bowman SC, defending Mr Lorigan, that he was an alcoholic but had not drunk in two years. He said that at the time he had been drinking since the morning of January 6th but had not drunk to excess as he was coming off a binge.

Mr Bowman put it to the witness that Mr Lorigan hadn’t arrived at his house until before midnight on January 6th and was not in his house during the day. The witness disagreed with this.

The defence barrister said the accused’s instructions were that no conversations took place with Mr Burke that night or the following morning. The witness disagreed with the barrister.

Mr Bowman further put it to the witness that his client would say he never wore a pair of jeans or boots found at the house. Mr Burke replied that as long as he knew Mossy he had always worn those boots.

The trial continues on Friday before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of five men and seven women.

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