Teen murder-accused 'did not fit in growing up'

The mother of the 18-year-old Kevin Walsh accused of murdering a 20-year-old because he was English told a jury in Central Criminal Court today that was withdrawn growing up and could not write.

The body of the deceased lay undiscovered in a field where the alleged murder took place after a drinking session, beside a car park at the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre.

Liz Walsh, a mother of six, was giving evidence in the trial of her son, Kevin Walsh of Allenton Green, Tallaght, Dublin, who denies murdering James Burke between September 22nd and 26th 2005 at the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, Clondalkin.

Ms Walsh told defence counsel Mr Michael O’Higgins SC that the accused was not well socially-integrated growing up and that he had difficulty remembering things.

“We used to send him for bread and milk to the shop which was only down the road and he’d always forget and come back and ask us what was it we wanted,” she said.

She also said her son was exposed to violence in the home and that they had to go to refuges on several occasions.

The trial before Mr Justice O’Sullivan and a jury of five women and six men continues tomorrow.