Murder accused ‘extremely upset’ about rape allegation on day victim died

A murder accused was “extremely upset” about an alleged rape on the day he is accused of stabbing a man to death, his trial has heard.

Dylan Hayes (22) of The Crescent, Kilteragh, Dooradoyle, Co Limerick has pleaded not guilty to the murder of 26-year-old Shane Murphy at The Grove, Pallasgreen, Co Limerick on April 30th, 2015.

His co-accused Ger Hogan (33) of Raheen Square, Ballinacurra Weston has also pleaded not guilty.

Mr Murphy's girlfriend Sharon Kelly on Wednesday told Mr Hayes's defence counsel Hugh Hartnett SC that earlier on the day Shane died, Jodie Byrnes, who was staying at Ms Kelly's home, called Mr Hayes and told him that she had been raped by a neighbour, who has been named only as Wayne.

Ms Kelly said the rape allegation was "false" but agreed with Mr Hartnett that Mr Hayes was "extremely upset" when he arrived following the phone call. She agreed that Dylan was going to "deal with Wayne" and that he was "out of it".

She added: “He was clearly under the influence.”

Ailish Flood, who was also staying at Sharon Kelly’s house at that time, described Jodie Byrnes as a “drama queen” and said she did not believe the allegation of rape. She said the alleged perpetrator was harmless and that he had later killed himself.

She also said that when Mr Hayes arrived at the house he was furious and that he “intended to kill the fella across the road that Jodie claimed raped her.”

Going over events in the lead-up to Mr Murphy’s death, she said a group of people gathered in Sharon Kelly’s the night before, including Jodie Byrnes, the accused man Ger Hogan, Sharon Kelly, and the deceased.

She said at one point Mr Murphy and Ger Hogan began arguing and when Mr Hogan stood up she saw a knife sticking out of his pocket. She said the women intervened and took the knife off Mr Hogan and then hid all the knives in the house. She said she did this because she was afraid.

Michael Bowman SC, defending Ger Hogan, put it to her that it was remarkable that she spent that night sleeping on a couch with Ger Hogan if she was afraid of him. She said that she slept on the couch and Mr Hogan followed her.

Mr Bowman also suggested to her that the incident with the knife had actually involved the other accused man, Dylan Hayes, and not Mr Hogan. She said she did not agree and that she was not confused.

Later that night Ms Flood said she was asleep in Sharon Kelly's bed when she heard Jodie Byrnes screaming so she got up to find out what was wrong. She said Jodie Byrnes said Wayne got into bed beside her.

The following night, after Ms Byrnes had called Mr Hayes and told him she had been raped, Mr Hayes arrived at the house looking for Wayne. Ms Flood said Sharon Kelly and Shane Murphy told him that the allegation was “a load of lies” but Mr Hayes was furious. She said: “He was off his head too.”

“He wanted to kill this person and that person and he wanted to go over there and kill that man because he was after interfering with Jodie.”

She said a fight broke out and she saw Dylan Hayes and Ger Hogan stab Mr Murphy. She said Mr Hayes held a knife while Mr Hogan held a screwdriver.

The trial continues on Thursday in front of Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury of five women and seven men.