Accused denies teaching victim lesson, court hears

A New Age traveller denied that he and two other men intended to teach a Portuguese man a lesson when they beat him with an iron bar and left him to die in a field near their caravan site last year.

At the Central Criminal Court today a jury watched a video-recording of Steven Job being interviewed by gardaí in Cobh garda station following his arrest in connection with the death of 43 year-old Sergio Abru.

Mr Job (aged 31) of Whiting Bay, Ardmore, Co Waterford and two other men, Graeme Turnbull (aged 36) with an address at Ballyhooley Rd, Cork and Stuart Spicer (aged 28), with an address at Ballyquin, c/o Ardmore Post Office deny the murder of Mr Abru (aged 43) at Clashanahy, Ardmore, Co Waterford between September 6 and 7, 2002.

In the interview, Mr Job told gardaí that he heard noises from his caravan late in the night of September 6 and went outside where he saw the co-accused men and Mr Abru’s former partner Miriam Rooney assaulting Sergio Abru. He said Mr Abru was curled up on the ground when he got to the scene.

“I told him to get up and go, I didn’t want him there because of what he’d done to Miriam, he’s not a very nice person,” Mr Job told the gardaí.

“I don’t want that sort of person there, it’s quite a laid back place,” he added. The court has already heard that Mr Abru had been released from prison in the months before his death.

His former partner Miriam Rooney with whom he had a child had begun a relationship with one of the accused, Stuart Spicer, while he was in prison.

On the night in question Mr Abru had accompanied Ms Rooney, their young son and Mr Spicer to the caravan site. He was drinking in a caravan with Ms Rooney and a number of others when a fight broke out and he was assaulted outside the caravan.

Mr Job told gardai that he didn’t “kick the shit” out of Mr Abru and only “hit him a couple of digs”.

“I kicked him to try to get him to move, to go,” he said. “He got lifted off the site.” Mr Job said the fight lasted ten minutes and agreed it was possible that Mr Abru had been “rendered senseless” by blows from an iron bar. He said he did not use the iron bar.

When asked by gardaí if he had decided with Graeme Turnbull and Stuart Spice to “teach him [Mr Abru] a lesson”, he replied “no”.

Mr Job said he didn’t know why none of the group called an ambulance until the next day and said that after Mr Abru had been dragged to a nearby field he returned to his caravan and slept.

The trial continues on Monday before Mr Justice Kevin O’Higgins and a jury.