5 of 7 accused seen running

The jury in the trial of seven Dubliners charged with beating a man to death has seen footage of five of the accused running from the scene as gardaí arrived.

The footage was shown yesterday morning on the 14th day of the Central Criminal Court trial.

Dale Creighton, 20, was assaulted on New Year’s Day 2014 at the footbridge over the Tallaght bypass between Saint Dominic’s Rd and Greenhills Rd. He died in hospital the following day.

A woman and six men, who are in their 20s and from Tallaght, have all pleaded not guilty to murder.

They are Aisling Burke, aged 23, and David Burke, aged 28, of Beechpark, Collinstown, Co Westmeath; Graham Palmer, aged 26, of Park Avenue, Portarlington, Co Laois; Ross Callery, aged 23, of Gortlum Cottages, Brittas, Dublin; James Reid, aged 26, of Glen Aoibhinn, Gorey, Co Wexford; Jason Beresford, aged 23, of Coill Diarmuida, Ard a’ Laoi, Castledermot, Co Kildare; and Gerard Stevens, aged 27, of Grosvenor Square, Rathmines, in Dublin.

Sergeant Brian Cagney talked the jury through CCTV footage of part of the assault yesterday. He described kicking actions on the deceased by Mr Callery and Mr Beresford, and striking actions by Mr Stevens, Mr Palmer, and Mr Beresford.

He was then asked to describe what was happening at 4.07am on the footage. “They all seem to look collectively to the right-hand side, as if distracted, and then they all run to the left-hand side,” he said.

Sgt Cagney explained that five of the accused had run: Mr Beresford, Mr Callery, Mr Palmer and Ms Burke, followed by Mr Burke.

“You can see blue lights in the distance, flashing lights,” he added.

The jury had already heard that the gardaí arrived at this time.