THE MAIN witness in the trial of two brothers accused of murdering a Co Offaly farmer has told the Central Criminal Court that they “turned” on the deceased after they “invited” him on to their land to get his heifer.
Daniel-Joseph “DJ” Byrne (38) and Jason Byrne (32), both of Hammer Lane, Borness, Mountmellick, Co Laois, deny murdering Edward “Eddie” Dempsey (49), on October 11th, 2007.
The deceased’s brother, John Dempsey, told the jury that on December 18th, 2006, he saw the two accused beating his brother, after they told him to come on to their land to get his heifer. Mr Dempsey said he saw DJ Byrne hit Eddie “with the greatest power . . . he hit him over the right ear as hard as he could swing”. He denied Eddie opened the gate on to the Byrnes’ yard and pushed it into DJ Byrne before he was struck.
Eddie Dempsey died in Portlaoise Hospital 10 months after the alleged assault.
John Dempsey told the court he and Eddie worked on their farm together and that about 100 acres of their land was on Hammer Lane, near the Byrnes’ property.
On December 18th, 2006, Mr Dempsey said he spotted one of their heifers in the Byrnes’ field.
“Naturally I went to get her,” he told the court. He said he drove to Hammer Lane, but as he attempted to bring the animal back on to his own land, the cow ran back into the Byrnes’ field.
He saw Jason Byrne, who he said “roared at me twice or three times to get the heifer off his land. He was out of his mind, I was in dread of him”.
Mr Dempsey said he and Eddie contacted gardaí before driving back to the lane. Once there, Mr Dempsey said they saw the two accused in the yard.
He told the jury: “DJ said, ‘come on in and get your heifer.’ They were smiling, the two of them. DJ had the handle of a shovel and the other had the handle of a brush.”
Mr Dempsey said Eddie was gone about a yard inside the gate when the Byrne brothers told him he was on private property. He said he saw Jason Byrne hitting Eddie on the legs and then he saw DJ hit him over the right ear.
John Dempsey said he pulled his brother out of the yard and helped him to stand up, but he said Eddie was disoriented and lay across the front of the Jeep before gardaí came and brought him to Portlaoise Hospital.
In cross-examination, counsel for the defence Paul O’Higgins put it to Mr Dempsey that “the last thing” the Byrnes wanted was for Eddie to come on to their land. “No, you’re wrong,” Mr Dempsey replied. Mr O’Higgins also put it to the witness it was “absolutely not true” that the two accused hit Eddie after he fell to the ground. Mr Dempsey denied this.
Before sending the jury home for the day, Mr Justice George Birmingham told them not to “jump to conclusions at this stage”.