A Limerick man on trial for murder at the Central Criminal Court allegedly told gardai that he regretted stabbing another man and leaving him to bleed to death on the side of the road.
Mr John Hogan (29), of Talbot Avenue, Prospect, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of James O'Connor (35), of Clarina Park, Ballinacurra, in Limerick city on January 9th, 1998.
On the second day of the trial yesterday, Det. Sgt Thomas O'Connor told the court that Mr Hogan had made a statement to gardai in which he admitted stabbing Mr O'Connor, but said he did not know why he had stabbed him.
On the night of the stabbing Mr Hogan had got out of a car at the junction of Hyde Road and Crecora Avenue in Prospect because Mr O'Connor was shouting at the side of the road, according to the statement.
"I didn't know what was wrong. I had been smoking hash and drinking cans, and I seen him pull out a knife from his waist. The two of us were pulling at it. The knife could've stuck into him, I'm not sure. It was all over in seconds," the statement read.
Asked why he had stabbed Mr O'Connor, the accused allegedly told Det. Sgt Dominic Hayes: "He was just shouting `What are ye f . . . ing looking at?' He wouldn't shut up . . . and I stabbed him."
The court had previously heard that Mr O'Connor was a house painter and father of three young children. On the night of his death he had been on his way to a darts match. The trial resumes today.