Jury watches CCTV footage in murder case

The mother of a Tipperary murder and arson victim listened yesterday in court to a recording of dialogue at the crime scene during the hours of the killing and fire.

She heard the news being broken to her son’s partner that the father of her child was inside a blazing house.

The jury at the Central Criminal Court was being shown CCTV footage from a neighbour’s house on the ninth day of the trial of John Paul Buck (aged 29) of Heywood Close, Clonmel.

He denies stabbing his “best mate” to death at a house in the same estate in the early hours of October 1, 2005. He has also pleaded not guilty to setting fire to the boarded-up house.

The tape began at 2.20am, with conversation and glass breaking before the dead man’s nickname is mentioned.

“Are you in, Fungie? Are you in?”

“There’s boards here. I can’t stay,” was the reply, according to Detective Gda Seamus Moran, who had watched the footage several times.

He explained that due to a broken street light near the house, most of the footage was dark, but a sensitive microphone meant a lot of dialogue could be heard from the street.

He also said he had the benefit of watching it in a dark room with earphones, while there were no blinds in the courtroom to black out the sunlight. He had lived in Clonmel for several years, he added, allowing him to decipher the strong South Tipperary accent.

“Get through that,” someone is heard suggesting.

“F*** that….. Not going in there.”

At 2.34am, the first of seven fireworks in an 18-minute period are heard going off. It’s followed by laughter and dogs barking and another mention of Mr Roche’s name.

At 3.37am, part of a conversation is captured between two people.

“You started grabbing onto the back of him and he pushed you,” a female voice says.

At 5.12 am, a white van is seen driving down the street. A door can be heard creaking opening and closing. A minute later, what is thought to be the same van drives back up the street.

Less than 15 minutes later, the dead man’s name is called, followed by a grating sound. A minute later the fire breaks out and a person is seen running from the blaze.

A minute before the 999 call is made at 5.40am, the grating noise is repeated. Constant frantic dialogue can then be heard until the fire brigade arrives 10 minutes later.

“Susie, he went in there three f***ing hours ago,“ a man is heard telling Mr Fergus’s partner, Susan Farrell.

“Get in there and get him out of there,” a woman is heard shouting. “Go in a window. Put in a f***ing window.”

Various voices are heard calling out Mr Roche’s name and glass is heard breaking before a second phone call is made to Clonmel garda station to ask where the fire brigade is.

“Tell him the house is on fire. Tell him the house is going up in flames,” a voice shouts.

“How do … know he’s in there?” the female asks.

“He had nowhere else to sleep,” she is later told.

Various attempts at getting into the house can be heard, with people asking for a flash lamp and a quilt while smashing windows, banging doors and constantly calling out: “Fungie”.

The trial has now gone into legal argument and will continue on Thursday before Mr Justice George Bermingham and a jury of six men and six women.