Having suffered a fatal knife wound to his neck, a Dublin father called the man who had inflicted the injury a “dirtbird” and told him: “You stabbed me in the artery, you f**king eejit,” a murder trial has heard.
The jury in the trial of Joseph Lawlor (39) today viewed CCTV footage of the moment when the accused stabbed his friend Michael ‘Chino’ Ryan during a physical altercation following a day of drinking. The jury has seen CCTV footage of two prior altercations between the men on the same day.
Mr Lawlor, of Hampton Wood Road in Finglas, Dublin, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Ryan (51) in a car park to the back of the accused man’s home on June 20th, 2024.
The jury previously heard Mr Lawlor and Mr Ryan were drinking together in Mr Lawlor’s home throughout the day and had their first physical altercation at 8.30pm. Following a second altercation just after 9.30pm, Mr Ryan left in his car but was arrested almost immediately for drink driving.
READ MORE
Having been processed and released from custody, Mr Ryan returned to Mr Lawlor’s home shortly after midnight. Det Garda Ronan Kelly today told Kevin White SC, prosecuting, that he viewed CCTV footage of the altercation that followed and listened to an audio recording from a neighbour’s Ring doorbell.
In the audio footage, he said Mr Ryan can be heard speaking through Mr Lawlor’s front door, asking for the return of a watch which he said was worth €4,000 and was “personal to me”. Mr Lawlor told him: “F**k off Chino, I’m not giving it to you.”
When Mr Ryan continued to demand his watch, Mr Lawlor said: “I’ll fight you down the back”, before Mr Ryan said he would “send someone over” to “flick two or three pineapples in your window”. Det Garda Kelly said pineapple is slang for a grenade.
About seven minutes later, Det Garda Kelly said, Mr Ryan had retrieved a bag from Mr Lawlor’s home and could be seen walking back towards the car park, followed by Mr Lawlor carrying a knife in his left hand.
Det Garda Kelly said an audio recording captured Mr Ryan moments after being stabbed saying: “You fucking c**t you, you dirtbird, Joey. You stabbed me in the artery, you f**king eejit.”
In his opening speech to the jury earlier this week, Mr White said the deceased’s words were “prescient”, given he suffered a fatal injury to his artery.
Det Garda Kelly said Mr Lawlor walked back towards his house, saying: “There’ll be no pineapples going through my door.” Moments later, Mr Lawlor returned to the scene and called emergency services looking for an ambulance. The jury heard a recording of the 999 call in which Mr Lawlor could be heard asking for help.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Patrick McGrath and a jury.
