THE brother of a youth who died as a result of an incident outside a Co Cavan disco told the Central Criminal Court yesterday he saw his brother being "beat away" from him and later saw him lying prone on the ground.
Mr Dermot Kenny was giving evidence on the third day of the trial of Mr Patrick Carry (18), of Headfort Grove, Kells, Co Meath, who has denied the murder of Mr Tony Kenny (17), of Tromra Road, Granard, Co Longford.
At the outset of the trial, Mr Carry denied the murder but admitted the manslaughter of Mr Kenny at Carrickatober, Crosskeys, Co Cavan, on March 6th 1994. The plea was rejected by the State.
In court yesterday Mr Dermot Kenny told Mr Denis Vaughan Buckley SC, prosecuting, that he and his brother, Tony, and others attended the Carrig Springs disco in Co Cavan on the night of March 5th/6th, 1994.
About 2 a.m. he was walking across a grass patch outside the premises when he was approached by a red haired youth and a smaller youth. He said the red haired youth gave him an elbow in the shoulder and a fist in the face.
His brother, Tony, came up and asked what was happening, Mr Kenny said. He said the two youths walked towards them to fight and "roared" over at a bus from where more youths came running.
Mr Kenny said he was jumped on and knocked to the ground. The same thing happened to Tony, and he saw Tony "being beat away from where we were standing".
He said the red haired youth was behaving angrily and viciously.
The witness said he was beaten over on to the driveway and eventually got away and saw his brother, Tony, lying on the ground at the back of a bus. He appeared to be dead.
Cross examined by Mr John Rogers SC, defending, Mr Kenny said he saw no one kicking Tony. He denied he had earlier boarded a bus and told another youth: "Come on, there's a fight."
He denied a suggestion that the defendant had joined a fight involving people from Kells and Granard.
He said the red haired youth had later dived on top of him and had him by the neck.
Mr Sean Traynor, a doorman at the Carrig Springs on March 6th, 1994, said he saw a fight on the grass outside the premises when the disco ended which could have involved five or six people.