A Dublin man accused of murder was on a "mission of aggression" on the night of the killing, a jury in the Central Criminal Court was told yesterday.
Mr Vincent Flynn (19), of Kiltipper Close, Old Bawn, Tallaght, Co Dublin, denies the murder of a 17-year-old youth, Steven Morris, at Killakee Walk, Firhouse, Dublin, on May 2nd, 1998.
In his summing up for the prosecution, Mr Patrick Gageby SC told the jury that "the only thing you have to decide is if Vincent Flynn intended to cause serious injury" when he stabbed the deceased man.
"Look at the actions," he said. At the house of the deceased, "he was calling out for Steven Morris, producing the weapon. Steven Morris was stabbed because he stood up to Vincent Flynn and said `Why, what are you going to do, stab me?' and he did stab him," Mr Gageby said.
"Rather than a feigned suicide, this man was full of aggression."
In his summing up for the defence, Mr John Edwards SC told the jury that, shortly after his arrest, the accused told gardai: "I didn't mean to kill him. I didn't kill him on purpose. It was an accident, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just wanted to threaten him."
Mr Edwards said the accused "didn't intend it. He just wanted to threaten him. The key to this case is the lack of focus," he said. "Nothing that happened in the [accused man's] bedroom would account for or explain or suggest why Vincent Flynn would rush out and kill Steven Morris," he said.
He said the accused was a "psychological, psychiatrical, medical mess, a completely mixed-up kid . . . bent on self-harm".
The jury of seven men and five women will retire to consider its verdict after Mr Justice Kinlen delivers his charge this morning.