A man arrested in connection with the murder of a profoundly deaf young man began to cry while telling gardai he was "not a murderer", a garda witness has told the Central Criminal Court today.

The trial continues today of a man accused of the murder of a profoundly deaf man in Newport, Co Tipperary.

A deaf man who was found dead in a country laneway in 1998 had earlier made the "999 sign" with his finger after sustaining a beating, a murder trial jury heard today.