Neighbours had history of dispute, trial hears

TWO neighbours — one of whom is charged with the murder of the other — were involved in a previous antagonistic verbal dispute to which gardaí were called, the Central Criminal Court, sitting in Limerick, heard yesterday.

Richard Higgins, aged 42, of 1 New Houses, Lattin, Co Tipperary, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his next-door neighbour, Sean Murphy, aged 29, on January 17, 2010.

He also denies threatening to kill or cause serious harm to Sean Murphy and his partner, Paula Hassett, on dates in October and December 2009.