Trial opens of man accused of murdering sister's boyfriend

A 23-year-old Dublin man has gone on trial for the murder of his sister’s boyfriend in Ballymun in north Dublin more than two years ago.

John Paul Hayes, from Ballymun, is accused of stabbing 33-year-old Francis Moore, who lived in a flat in Ballymun with Mr Hayes’s sister and their three-year-old child.

Mr Moore was found dead on the balcony of the flat by neighbours who were alerted by Mr Hayes. He had been stabbed 39 times.

The jury was told today that Mr Hayes was seen on the night of the stabbing near a local cab office with blood on his clothing.

They also heard that Mr Hayes’s sister and Mr Moore had an often difficult and violent relationship and that she had moved out of the flat before the stabbing.

The trial continues.