Accused looked 'shocked' on hearing of death, court told

A man accused of the murder of his navy comrade sat with his face in his hands staring at the deck when the captain of the LE Eithne informed the entire crew that a young sailor had drowned in the River Liffey.

Sean Lundon’s cabinmate Keith Daly told a jury at the Central Criminal Court today that close to 7am he returned to his cabin to see the accused sitting on a chair in the middle of the cabin.

"He had his face in his hands and he was staring at the deck," he told Mr Padraig Dwyer BL for the

prosecution.

Apprentice ERA Daly was giving evidence on the fourth day of the trial of Mr Lundon, aged 21, of James Connolly Park, Tipperary town.

Mr Lundon, the ship's apprentice mechanic, has denied the murder of fellow crewman, Mr Brian Gorey, aged 21, of Devon Close, Castletroy View, Limerick, at Sir John Rogerson's Quay,

Dublin on April 22 2001.

The accused just looked up at Mr Daly when he returned to the cabin, but did not say anything. He told gardai that Mr Lundon looked "dazed, shocked and disappointed".

A number of young sailors who were drinking in the ship’s recreational room with the accused and Brian Gorey in the hours before the incident gave evidence that there was no hostility between the two.

Able Seaman Sinead Gilligan told the court that she had left the recreational room at around 4.30am on the morning of April 22, leaving Sean Lundon in the company of some others and Brian Gorey asleep on the couch.

She told the court that when she learned of Mr Gorey’s death she sought to clarify what exact time she had left the recreational room.

"I asked [Sean] Lundon what time he had left at, and he said ‘I left a half hour after you with Humps [David Humphries]’," she said.

David Humphries told the court that he left the recreational room at 5am, leaving Brian Gorey asleep on the couch and Sean Lundon sitting alone at a table.

It is the State's case that the accused man assaulted Able Seaman Gorey in the ship's recreation room in the early hours of the morning and then took or carried him down a corridor to the ship's starboard side where he was dropped into the river.

The trial continues on Tuesday before Mr Justice Carney and a jury of seven men and five women.