Jury finds man guilty of Chinese man's manslaughter

A murder jury found two men accused of murdering a Chinese man not guilty of murder, but one man was found guilty of manslaughter, at the Central Criminal Court today.

James Harmer (aged 27) of the Abbey Court Hostel, Bachelors Walk, Dublin, and Noel O'Flaherty (aged 34) of McCormack Gardens, Baldoyle, Co Dublin, had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ly Minh Luong (aged 50) at Temple Bar, Dublin on August 19, 2002.

The two had also pleaded not guilty to assault causing harm to Mr Wei Dong (aged 37), at Temple Bar, Dublin on August 16, 2002.

Harmer and O'Flaherty were both found guilty of causing harm to Mr Dong by the jury of nine men and three women.

Following a total of seven hours and 20 minutes of deliberations over two days, the jury unanimously found Harmer not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter and both men guilty of causing harm.

However, the jury asked Mr Justice Paul Butler for direction on the remaining charge, saying they "could not see the prospect of a decision on the outstanding charge".

Mr Justice Butler then gave them the option of a majority verdict of 10 to 12. The jury deliberated for a short time and returned a "not guilty of murder, but disagreed on manslaughter" verdict for O'Flaherty. The jury was then discharged.

During the 12-day trial, the court heard about the events on the night of August 16, which led to Mr Luong's death three days later.

Harmer, who is from Staffordshire in the UK, and O'Flaherty were acquaintances, who both worked as doormen and often played cards together and chatted late at night at the Abbey Court Hostel, where they were staying at the time. The two had only known each other a few weeks and had gone out together for drinks a two or three times.

That night, they had been to a few pubs and a nightclub and were heading home through Temple Bar around 2am. Harmer told the court he was not drunk, but "tipsy" and O'Flaherty said he was drunk after nine to 10 pints "and a few shorts".

By the Central Bank Harmer and O'Flaherty passed two "Asian looking" men.

Mr Dong, a former member of the Chinese Special Police and a martial arts expert, had followed his friend, Mr Luong, out of Club M to urge him to take a taxi home instead of driving.

Prosecution said that Mr Dong did not have a good memory of the night.

Mr Dong told the court he heard words to the effect of "f---ing Chinese". O'Flaherty said his co-accused said "Chinese wankers, Chinese bastards", "but James says stuff like that all the time".

Harmer said he "may have made a silly remark at some point of the fight". He denied the "silly" remark was racist.

Mr Dong described the attack on him. "They punched me to the face and the body. My eyes were covered in blood, I couldn't see anything. I got a kick in the chest and fell to the ground."

Harmer told gardaí he did not start the fight, but then said he "maybe" did. The court heard that the fight between the four men started and stopped three times.

Eyewitnesses, none of whom saw the entire incident, told the court one of the Irish looking men said "f--- off and stop following (them)" to a Chinese man.

O'Flaherty said he joined the fight only "to stop James". O'Flaherty told the court he threw "two to three punches" and head-butted Mr Dong, while he was trying to get Mr Dong to end the fight.

O'Flaherty said he stood between his co-accused and the Asian man, trying to stop the fight, but "James threw a kick around me and hit the guy in the head".

He said the second Asian man intervened and went for Harmer, which is when O'Flaherty threw a punch at him. Harmer also threw punches at the man.

"He went straight down and banged his head. There was a thud," said O'Flaherty.

The court heard how O'Flaherty said "Jesus Christ" when the Asian man fell and he was shouting at James "to stop it".

O'Flaherty admitted head-butting the stockier Asian man, holding him by the shirt, saying "stop it, quit it, it's gone too far".

O'Flaherty told gardaí he was "frightened by the whole thing" and that he never gets into fights.

The two accused walked away from the fight and went voluntarily to Pearse Street Garda Station the next morning. They have not had any contact with each other since, the court heard.

"Just bring me a sedative, because I'll go bananas if this guy dies," O'Flaherty told Detective Garda Brendan Supple during his 11-hour interview at the station.

On August 19, Mr Luong was taken off a life support machine at St James's Hospital, where he died of severe brain injuries.

Harmer is remanded in custody until sentencing at a later date.