A JURY in Sydney, Australia, has retired to consider its verdict in the case of the attempted murder of Irishman David Keohane.
Thomas Isaako, a 21-year-old Sydney resident, has pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder two years ago of Corkman David Keohane.
David 29, from Ballyvolane, who had been working in Sydney as a flooring contractor, was left for dead in a quiet street in the eastern beachside suburb of Coogee after being attacked by Isaako in the early hours of August 9, 2008, the Downing Centre District Court was told.
Isaako, 21, of Bankstown, told police that, after he had been drinking at the Coogee Bay Hotel, a companion suggested they "roll" someone, which he said meant "bash someone and take their stuff".
Mr Keohane, from Cork, was picked because he was the only person the pair could see in the street.
Isaako said that, after hitting Mr Keohane and seeing him fall to the ground, he punched him four more times before telling his companion to stop hitting him.
Mr Keohane’s whole face was fractured in the attack and doctors said he was lucky to survive. According to David’s father, Tom, the attackers broke every bone in his face. He spent seven months in a coma before waking up at Cork University Hospital on St Patrick’s Day last year. David Keohane is attending the trial with his daughter, Carol.
Isaako says he did not intend to kill Mr Keohane. He has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, but guilty to robbery in company and inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Judge Ronald Solomon summed up the evidence to the jury before they retired at lunchtime to begin their deliberations.
"You must not be swamped by the natural sympathy we all feel for David Keohane and his family," he told them.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Tuesday, March 16, 2010
