AT LEAST three concerned citizens tried to prevent a fight minutes before two Polish mechanics were stabbed to death outside their Dublin home.
The Central Criminal Court heard two people called gardaí and another tried to bring one of the Polish men to safety after seeing trouble outside a chip shop.
Pawel Kalite (29) and Marius Szwajkos (27) sustained stab wounds to their brains on February 23rd 2008 on Benbulben Road, Drimnagh.
David Curran (19) of Lissadel Green, Drimnagh, has pleaded not guilty to their murder but guilty to their manslaughter. His 21-year-old co-accused, Seán Keogh of Vincent Street West, Inchicore, pleaded not guilty to the double murder.
Tracey Dillon was standing outside shops on Benbulben Road when she saw a teenage boy in a grey tracksuit bump into a bald man and a scuffle start between them. There were two girls with the teenager and an older man got out of a jeep and joined them.
“The lad in the grey tracksuit, the two young girls and this older man were basically killing the bald chap on the ground,” she said. “They were kicking him.” She said the fight ended with the older man taking the boy away. The two girls stood nearby.
“One of the girls was carrying a bottle of vodka and the other had what appeared to be a bottle of wine,” she recalled, explaining that the bald man started to walk by them. “One of them gave him a clatter across the face, across the neck. He done nothing. He just crossed the road.” Ms Dillon said the girls and the boy, who returned, began walking towards the Marble Arch pub while she got into her car and drove.
She then noticed the girls and the boy among a group of six or seven running towards the shops from the pub area. “There was a tall lad wearing a black and red jacket. I seen a screwdriver in his hand,” she said. “They were screaming: ‘Where’s the b*st*rd? I’m going to kill him. Where’s the c*nt?’ I rang the police on my mobile.” Ms Dillon got through to an operator and warned that there was going to be a row. “I told her that there was going to be killings on Benbulben Road and to get someone up there quick,” she said.
Ms Dillon drove towards her home about 10 houses away from that of the victims. “I seen a body on the ground, on the footpath. I honestly thought to myself they were after getting him,” she said.
As she pulled into her own drive, she noticed that there was more than one person down. “The chap I saw at the chipper was lying face down at the very last step of the garden with his face smashed into the step,” she explained. “I thought they were dead.”
Darren Lee said he was finishing off working behind the shutters of his butcher shop when he heard banging on them. He and his landlord, Rory O’Connor, went outside.
“The bald fellow was on the ground. There was a fellow called Mick walking away,” he said. “The bald fellow picked himself up. He staggered towards the chipper.” He said that moments later they noticed girls across the road screaming abuse at the bald man.
“I went inside to ring the guards because I thought there was going to be an incident,” he said.
“The bald guy was heading up the road and the girls were following him and still shouting abuse,” he continued.
“A few minutes after, a group of young lads ran by us shouting. One of the young lads I know him as ‘Schillaci’.” The court already heard that this was David Curran’s nickname.
Mr Lee rang the Garda again when he noticed ‘Schillaci’ jumping on and kicking a parked car and shouting at the occupants: “Was it youse? Who did it?”
Mr O’Connor said it was about this time that he ran inside to get his car keys so he could drive the bald man home. “I sensed there was going to be trouble,” he said.
He drove along Benbulben Road but couldn’t find the man and returned to his shop.
The trial continues.