Accused protected victim before fatal night, court told

A 19-year-old student on trial for conspiring to assault another teenager, who was found stabbed to death, had walked the boy home the previous night in order to protect him, the Circuit Criminal Court in Tralee heard from a prosecution witness yesterday.

The witness also said Martin Ollo and Shane Regan both feared for their safety in the aftermath of the killing of Stephen Lyne on Ross Road, Killarney.

Mr Ollo has pleaded not guilty to two charges on consecutive dates — June 16/17, 2009 and June 17/18, 2009 — of conspiring with Regan to assault Mr Lyne, causing him harm.

The prosecution has said Regan killed Mr Lyne and Mr Ollo did not know Regan had a knife.

Mr Lyne, aged 17, was found dead as the result of a single stab wound in the early hours of June 18. The prosecution believed Ollo’s co-accused Regan — who has since died — killed him, the trial has heard.

Yesterday, several witnesses gave evidence of a group of teenagers, including Mr Lyne and the accused, “hanging around” town on June 17.

Jessica Sugrue, then a fourth-year student at Killarney Community College who was not present on June 17 but who knew Mr Lyne and Ollo, gave evidence of the speculation about who had killed Mr Lyne in the days following the killing.

At 4am on June 18, Ms Sugrue got a phone call from Mr Regan saying Mr Lyne was dead. Mr Regan said he heard this from his brother Garry, who was going out with Mr Lyne’s sister.

Asked by Tom Rice, prosecuting, if Mr Regan had said how Mr Lyne had died, Ms Sugrue said: “He just said he was killed.”

Mr Regan went to Tralee the next day, saying he feared what happened to Mr Lyne would happen to him, Ms Sugrue said.

Mr Ollo came to her house the next day and said he blamed himself for what happened to Mr Lyne, she told Mr Rice.

She reiterated the statement she gave to gardaí four weeks after the killing. In it, she said Mr Ollo had told her one of the Lyne family “got tipped off” that Mr Lyne was going to be attacked and Mr Ollo had walked Mr Lyne home on the night of June 16/17 to protect him and stayed at his house.

“He felt he should have walked Stephen home that night too,” said Ms Sugrue when asked why Mr Ollo blamed himself for what happened.

She said the speculation among her friends was that a teenager to whom Mr Lyne owed €50 might have killed him.

The trial continues.