Limerick murder accused says victim had raped him

A 28-year-old Limerick man told detectives that the man he is accused of murdering had raped him nine years previously, a jury was told at the Central Criminal Court today.

During questioning at Henry Street Garda Station in Limerick city, Mr Darren Cunneen told Detective Sergeant Declan Mulcahy that he attacked Mr Joseph O’Doherty (aged 74) at his home on December 13, 2001, because he had a flashback to the alleged rape and "lost control".

The jury heard earlier that the deceased was a convicted sex offender. Det Sgt Mulcahy confirmed for the defence that Mr O’Doherty was convicted of an indecent assault on a 14-year-old boy in 1991 but that the boy it related to was not the accused.

A relative of Mr O’Doherty, Mr John Ryan, told the court that he was a qualified secondary school teacher who made his living from giving grinds in Greek and Latin to young students. He agreed with defence counsel Isobel Kennedy SC that the grinds stopped around 1991.

"I wasn't aware that was why he had stopped," said Mr Ryan. Ms Kennedy said the deceased was given a 12-month suspended sentence and was "prohibited from giving grinds to young people".

In his statement made on December 16, 2001, Mr Cunneen said he was 14 years old and in second year at secondary school when he was allegedly raped by Mr O’Doherty. He said a man approached him in a laneway and asked him if he wanted to do some charity work.

"It was before summer. He asked me if I wanted to do some charity work. He showed me some leaflets. He grabbed me by the back of the neck. He pulled down my trousers. He raped me. I was facing the wall," Mr Cunneen allegedly told detectives.

When detectives asked what he meant by this, Mr Cunneen replied: "He put his penis inside me. He told me that it was my fault and if I told anyone I wold go to hell for it". He told gardaí he felt "dirty, like it was my own fault.

"I used to see him around but I was afraid of him". He told them he was too ashamed to tell anyone about the alleged rape since and said he "can’t have a relationship with girls" because of it.

Sergeant David Lynch told the court today Mr Cunneen had seen the deceased around the area some days before his death.

On the night of the attack, he had been drinking until closing time and then went looking for Mr O’Doherty’s home. "I suppose I wanted to find out where he lived and tell him that I was going to tell the guards," Mr Cunneen told gardaí at the time.

He said he did not even know the man’s name. "I went to the Good Shepherd Avenue where the man I killed lived," he said.

He told detectives that he knocked and rang the doorbell of several houses in the sheltered accommodation complex for the elderly after 1am, but no one answered until he came to Mr O’Doherty’s home.

"He asked me what did I want, I pushed him into the house and punched him in the face on his glasses. I got a flashback of when I was 14 so I kicked him between the knees. He dropped down to his knees.

"I kicked him in the chest. He tried to get up again and I kicked him. No, I didn’t stamp on him" he allegedly told detectives. He told how he left the house but returned again later around 2.50am.

"I just panicked. I wanted to see the man I killed. I went back in and he was still lying on the bedroom floor. He was breathing heavily so I pressed the panic button," said Mr Cunneen to Sgt Lynch. "I cleaned some blood off his face but the blood wouldn’t stop.

"Before I put the pillow under his head the doorbell rang and I dropped the pillow. Someone came in the front door and I ran out past him," he said in his statement.

Retired State Pathologist Dr John Harbison confirmed Mr O’Doherty died from massive internal bleeding in his abdomen as well as multiple skull, face, neck and rib fractures. Mr Cunneen has pleaded guilty to his manslaughter but denies the murder charge.

Earlier, Mr Ryan told the court that his cousin was in "very poor" health at the time of his death in 2001. "Over the last number of years his health deteriorated considerably. He was hospitalised three times for septicaemia. He would have been very frail".

The trial continues before Mr Justice Barry White tomorrow.