A murder trial jury at the Central Criminal Court has retired to consider its verdict in the case of a Limerick man accused of the murder of a young deaf man.

A man accused of murdering a profoundly deaf young man told gardai that he repeatedly punched the victim but that he never intended to kill him, a garda witness told the Central Criminal Court today.

A "profoundly deaf" young man was left for dead in an isolated country laneway after being badly beaten with a hatchet, a murder trial jury heard today.