Murder trial nears end

A murder trial jury heard today that the accused in using a knife twice must be presumed to have intended to kill or cause serious injury.

Mr Paul Carroll SC, prosecuting, told the jury at the Central Criminal Court in his closing speech that the natural and probable consequences of Bryan Joyce’s actions were at the very least to cause serious injury.

Bernard Christopher Joyce (aged 21) of Carton Terrace, Poppintree, Ballymun has denied murdering James Donoghue (aged 26) as part of a joint enterprise with two other men at Dane Road, Ballymun on September 10, 2006.

He also denies the charges of violent disorder and production of a knife on the same date.

Mr Carroll told the jury that the prosecution did not have to prove that Mr Joyce delivered the overwhelmingly fatal stabwound on the basis of the doctrine of joint enterprise.

He said: "Where two or more persons embark on a joint enterprise each is liable for the acts done in pursuance of that joint enterprise."

The prosecution contended that Mr Joyce’s assertion that the plan was to go back and damage a van not to hurt anybody, was a ruse and a red herring.

Mr Carroll said: "The thrust of the prosecution’s case is that taking knives to break up a van, offensive weapons which can cause serious injury just doesn’t make sense.

"When Mr Joyce discovered the van wasn’t there did he go did he leave? No, he remains with his knife. The plan is a ruse; the plan is a red herring."

Mr Carroll said that even if the jury did not accept the prosecution’s contention that the plan was a ruse when the men discovered the van was not there the plan then changed. He said Mr Joyce remaining with his knife amounted to a tacit agreement of that plan.

He said: "He didn’t leave, he got involved, he carried his weapon of offence and he used it not once but twice."

Defence counsel Mr Padraig Dwyer SC told the jury in his closing speech that Mr Joyce never went back to kill or cause serious injury to anybody.

He said: "Mr Joyce took the knife only to scare."

Mr Dwyer said it was a battle between two groups on the night of the incident and Mr Joyce acted in self-defence.

He said: "The reality of it is that this was a battle between two groups. When you’re in the heat of battle when you’re fighting for your life stabbing someone a second time might not seem excessive."

Mr Dwyer told the jury that nothing they said or did now could change the fact that Mr Donoghue was dead. He urged them not to convict the accused of a serious crime based on sympathy, suspicion or anger.

The jury of six men and six women are expected to retire today to consider their verdict.