Murder the 'only reasonable' verdict, jury told

The "only reasonable" verdict to be reached in the trial of a teenager accused of murdering Alan Higgins "is one of murder", a jury has heard at the Central Criminal Court.

Prosecuting counsel, Mr Paul Green BL said the verdict of murder "is the only reasonable conclusion to be drawn".

The accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies murdering Mr Higgins (aged 17) of Carraroe Avenue in The Donaghies, Donaghmede, Dublin, on October 13, 2002, outside UCI cinema, Coolock on Dublin’s north side.

The accused also denies stealing the victim’s mobile phone, a red Nokia 3310, and a sum of cash on October 12, 2002.

Mr Green BL said Alan Higgins’ death was a "great tragedy" and a "cause of grief to family and friends".

"Likewise it’s a tragedy that the accused is before the Central Criminal Court for actions that occurred when he was 15-and-a-half," Mr Green BL said.

"I suggest to you that the accused is, without a shadow of doubt, guilty of unlawful killing," he said.

Addressing the jury, Mr Green BL said they should look at the evidence in the case.

On the night Alan Higgins was fatally stabbed, "the late Alan Higgins and the accused were two young people who congragated at the UCI in Coolock".

"They were both leading parallel lives," Mr Green BL said.

Alan Higgins met his girlfriend and played a few "innocent video games and pool with her and her friends". The deceased, Mr Green BL said, ended his evening early because he "wanted to put in a night's sleep before doing a day's work in his part-time job".

At the same time as Alan Higgins was with his girlfriend, Mr Green BL said, the accused was in the company of two friends outside the UCI complex.

These two friends, Michael Maher and Anthony Whelan, were to become the accused’s "accomplices" in crime, Mr Green BL said.

The prosecuting counsel said the accused and his two friends "kicked off the day" Mr Higgins died by getting an "irresponsible adult to buy them alcohol".

"At 8pm that evening the accused started to make a serious nuisance of himself. Which is putting it at the most benign."

The UCI area, Mr Green BL said, was the accused’s "warzone".

Mr Green BL said the accused and his accomplices came across three different groups that evening, stealing a rucksack, cans of lager and two mobile phones in the vicinity of UCI.

Just a few minutes after Alan Higgins kissed his girlfriend goodnight, the accused and his two friends came across the deceased.

"We know it was a fight, three against one. Alan Higgins was on the ground," Mr Green BL said.

"The accused had the upper hand," the prosecution claim.

"Not withstanding the fact that Alan Higgins was on the ground, the accused felt it was necessary to produce a knife from his back pocket and stab Alan Higgins not once but three times," Mr Green BL said.

Prosecuting counsel told the jury that the accused had allegedly admitted to the murder of Alan Higgins in his various statements to gardaí. Mr Green BL said the accused in his own words said: "I stuck him with the knife and he rolled off."

Ultimately Mr Green BL said the accused is "guilty of murder and that murder was effected and carried out while robbing Alan Higgins of his mobile phone. He is guilty of the robbery of his phone also."

Defence counsel Mr Hugh Hartnett called clinical psychologist Mr Micheál Dempsey to give evidence.

Mr Dempsey said his role was to access the "brain power of the accused" and he carried out two separate tests.

The clinical psychologist said the accused had "attended special class for maths, reading and writing" when he was in school. The accused, Mr Dempsey said, was "functioning in the borderline range" of intellectual capacity.

As a result, Mr Dempsey said, the accused would most likely have "difficulty in thinking through the consequences of his actions and would have difficulty understanding short-term and long-term actions".

Under cross examination by Mr Brendan Grehan SC, the clinical psychologist said there was "no absolute certainty" of the tests.

Mr Grehan SC asked Mr Dempsey was it possible that the accused could "understate his score", to which he replied: "Absolutely. It’s one of the issues borne in mind when administrating the tests."

The DNA of Alan Higgins was found on the clothes of the teenage accused, according to Dr Dorothy Ramsbottom, forensic scientist with the Department of Justice.

She told the court that the DNA profile of the accused, Michael Maher, Anthony Whelan and Alan Higgins was generated on July 22, 2003.

These results proved that the accused’s jean pocket contained DNA of the defendant and both Alan Higgins and Anthony Whelan.

Last week, Anthony Whelan and Michael Maher pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Alan Higgins.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Henry Abbott.