‘Homeless man called paedophile by accused’

A murder trial witness said the accused first jokingly called a 59-year-old homeless man a paedophile and a kiddy-fiddler, then said it seriously and assaulted him, dragged him out of a flat, and came back saying “he has gone down the drain”.

The jury heard testimony that the accused man punched the other man hard into the face and that the victim said nothing and did nothing to protect himself

That was the evidence from a man described by Mr Justice Paul Carney as a critical witness in the case against David O’Loughlin, aged 28, with an address at Garden City Apartments, North Main St, Cork, who is accused of murdering Liam Manley, age 59, at those apartments on May 12, 2013. Mr Manley’s remains were found in a refuse chute which ran from the top of the four-floor complex to the ground floor.

David O’Mahony said the accused and others had stayed in his mother’s house on the Friday night and that he, Mr O’Mahony, went drinking on Shandon St on the Saturday night, then went to the Savoy had “plenty more drink” there, then went to a casino, and then to Mr O’Loughlin’s apartment at 5.30am or 6am.

Mr O’Mahony said an elderly man was sitting on a couch at the apartment.

“When I arrived in the apartment, there was an old man sitting on the couch, he looked 50 to 60 years old, he looked elderly and homeless. I never seen this man before. There was no introduction. I sat down on the chair by the table. He remained sitting on the couch. He did not say a word.”

Mr O’Loughlin asked him if he wanted a drink and gave him a bottle of Carlsberg. The older man had two bottles in front of him and was drinking one.

“There was a few words said in the space of 15 to 20 minutes and then Mr O’Loughlin proceeded to call the elderly man a paedophile and a kiddy-fiddler. First it started as a joke and then proceeded to something worse. He [Mr Manley] did not react at all. He said it multiple times after that. He did not answer.”

Seán Gillane, prosecuting, asked how Mr Manley was at that stage and he replied: “I wouldn’t say afraid, kind of sad, he kept his head down the whole time.”

He said the accused hit the man a punch with his closed fist into the face. “There was a few more punches. David was saying the same things. They were full-force punches, heavy punches. He just sat there. After four or five punches, I stood up and said ‘stop’ to try to stop whatever was going on. He told me to sit down and basically mind my own business. He looked fairly angry at the time,” the witness said.

He said he thought the man’s nose was broken as he was bleeding from the nose and Mr O’Loughlin picked him up and brought him out of the apartment.

He said he got up to follow Mr O’Loughlin who told him to go back inside and keep his mouth shut and a few minutes later he heard a metal shutter closing and did not have a clue where the sound was coming from.

“After three or four minutes he came back in. I asked where the man had gone. As far as I can remember his words to me were, ‘He has gone down the drain’. I didn’t know what he meant. I continued to drink, a lot faster after that.

Cross-examination will commence on Wednesday.

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