Man accused of killing could have taken tablets, court told
A man accused of a cut-throat killing could have taken sleeping tablets or painkillers along with alcohol before he kicked and then stabbed an older man to death in Inchicore four years ago.
A murder trial jury has heard that there is no issue that John Cleary killed Kenneth Foley outside a flat in an 'old folks complex' in Inchicore: the only issue is whether it was murder or manslaughter.
Today the jury heard that painkillers for arthritis and Valium or diazaphene tablets were found on a table in the living room where four men, including the accused and deceased, sat drinking before the fatal incident.
Cleary's counsel, Mr David Goldberg SC said he was instructed that the flat tenant, Anthony McCarten, gave Cleary tablets to take and that he "possibly" also gave them to his nephew, Don Knowles, who is wanted in connection with the killing.
McCarten told the court he could not remember. He agreed he had been drinking all day.
The officer in charge of the investigation, Superintendent Declan Coburn confirmed to the trial that Don Knowles is wanted for a less serious charge.
He is alleged to have joined in kicking Kenneth Foley before John Cleary slit his throat. He was charged with assault causing serious harm, but he skipped bail and left the jurisdiction.
John Cleary, aged 24, of St Mark's Avenue, Clondalkin, Dublin has denied a charge of the murder of Kenneth Foley, aged 45, at Jamestown Court in Inchicore.
Mr Foley, a single man with an address at Tyrconnell Road, Inchicore, was found dead on the steps of a stairwell in the Jamestown Court flat complex in the early hours of January 15, 1999.
In a statement to the then Detective Inspector Declan Coburn on January 16 1999, Cleary admitted boxing and kicking Foley, and then cutting his neck with a knife as he lay on the ground.
Cleary had earlier taken the knife from the kitchen of Anthony McCarten's flat, where the four men were drinking.
He also admitted that after the killing, he and Don Knowles walked home.
On the way, Knowles said to him, "What are we after doing?", he said.
He said that the pair entered a park in Ballyfermot and there, he broke the knife in two and pressed its blade into grass on a soccer pitch.
The knife's black handle was later found by gardai in the park.
The owner of the knife, Knowles' uncle, Anthony McCarten, identified the handle. The court heard that the blade was never found.
In his statement and in other interviews with gardai that are not contested by the defence, John Cleary said that he drank four pints with Don Knowles on the afternoon of January 14, and that he later had more alcohol with Knowles, his uncle McCarten, and Ken Foley in the flat in Inchicore.
He said that at around 11pm, he asked Ken Foley if he wanted to walk with him as he was going home.
He said Foley said he wouldn't walk up the road with him as he would probably rob him of the ÂŁ2.50 [pounds] he had.
"I got annoyed because I was only trying to be friendly", said Cleary. He said he went into the kitchen and took out a small black-handled knife with him.
He said Foley was "getting smart" with him so he gave him "a box in the face" and then another one in the head when Foley was still calling him "a scumbag and a robber".
"I went into the toilet to calm down and when I came out he was still giving it loads", he said. In his statement, he said he told Foley: "Wait 'til I get you outside, I'm going to kill you."
He said he then said to Foley, "If you want me to be a robber, I'll be a robber", and told him to hand over his watch and ring.
Foley gave him his watch but wouldn't give him his gold signet ring, so he removed it from his finger himself, he said.
He left the flat some time later and waited outside until Kenneth Foley left too.
"I asked him did he want a straightener, and I gave him a box in the stomach", Cleary told Supt Coburn and Detective Garda Adrian Whitelaw.
He started fighting with Foley and then Don Knowles came out and started punching him too, he said.
Cleary said he then started swinging the knife at Foley, and cutting him with it.
"Ken fell forward", he said. "He was lying on the ground and me and Don were killing him."
Asked what he meant by that, he said, "We were kicking the head off him." He said he then bent down and cut Foley's neck with the knife. "I just put the knife on his neck and I cut it", he said.
In his evidence, Don Knowles' uncle Anthony McCarten agreed that he and Ken Foley had been drinking non-stop in his flat for some 12 hours before the fatal incident.
He said that as he left the flat at around 1am or 2am on January 15, Foley was "like myself, decently tipsy".
Asked would he be capable of defending himself, McCarten said, "I wouldn't say so."
He said that tablets and medication found at the scene were painkillers for his arthritis and "Valium" or diazaphene tablets for sleeping.
Defence counsel David Goldberg SC said he was instructed John Cleary was given some tablets by McCarten "and possibly Don as well".
McCarten said he couldn't remember that, but he agreed they should not be taken together.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Kevin O'Higgins.
