Witness tells murder trial he saw woman jump on victim's stomach

An eye-witness in the case of a man and woman on trial for murdering a 29-year-old man in December 2007, has told the jury he saw a woman jumping on the victim's stomach as he lay unconscious on the ground.

Karl Lynch was giving evidence in the trial of Michael Cruise and Louise Wall who are charged with the murder of Darren McKeown in Drogheda.

Cruise (aged 19), from Donore Avenue, Ballsgrove in Drogheda and Wall (aged 21), of Cranmore, Clogherhead, have both denied the murder charge.

They have also pleaded not guilty to a second count of violent disorder at the Rowan Heights estate, Rathmullen, Drogheda on dates between Christmas Day and Stephen's Day 2007.

It's the prosecution's case that Mr McKeown was subjected to a “prolonged, sustained and vicious attack” at a Christmas party he was attending in the estate.

Senior prosecuting lawyer, Mr Sean Gillane SC, has told the jury that the assault began in the kitchen of a house, then moved onto a green area where Mr McKeown was kicked in the head as he lay on the ground.

The victim then went back into the house, where Mr Gillane said he was again assaulted.

Mr Lynch told the Central Criminal Court that he arrived at the house party just before midnight.

He saw Darren McKeown sitting in the living room with his face and head covered in blood. There was cuts on his head and a gash on his lip.

Mr Lynch suggested that Mr McKeown should be put to bed and that he should not “get more of a beating”. After Mr McKeown went upstairs, Mr Lynch said a woman showed him a missing tooth and told him that “Darren had knocked her tooth out“.

The court has heard that this woman had been in a relationship with Darren McKeown's brother, but they had broken up.

In his evidence, the victim's brother Barry McKeown said that he rang his ex-girlfriend on Christmas night as he knew she was still friendly with Darren and he was looking for him.

He said she told him Darren had tried to “headbutt her.” Then her son came on the phone and told him he was going to “f**king kill Darren”.

Mr Lynch said the next time he saw Mr McKeown, he was lying on the ground unconscious outside the gates.

He and his friends picked him up and were trying to bring him back inside the house when someone told them not to bring him in.

Mr Lynch said they lay Mr McKeown in the driveway and a ambulance was called. While they were waiting for the emergency services to arrive, he saw a “blonde-haired girl” jump on Mr McKeown's stomach.

He said he knew her name to be Louise.

Paramedics who attended the scene said Mr McKeown was unresponsive and had obvious injuries to his face. They rushed him to hospital, but he never regained consciousness and died three days later.

The case resumes in the morning before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy.