Murder trial jury hears how accused man sustained his limp

A jury in a murder trial heard the accused walked with a limp as a result of an injury to his left leg which he received in a road traffic accident.

The Central Criminal Court jury had previously heard from witnesses who had seen two men running from the scene of the fatal shooting; one of whom had a "bad limp".

Trevor McCabe (aged 35) of Mountpleasant, Ballyconnell, Co. Cavan, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Darren McGrath (aged 33) in Belturbet, Co Cavan on May 20, 2008.

It is the prosecution’s case that Mr McCabe shot Mr McGrath twice in the head at close range as he slept.

Dr Nasir Awin, a consultant surgeon at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, Co Louth, told the court he had treated the accused in August 2007.

The court heard Mr McCabe had been involved in a road traffic accident and was admitted with a fracture to his left leg and a burn on his chest.

On August 28, 2007 Dr Awin inserted a metal rod into Mr McCabe’s left leg, between the knee and the shin, in order to stabilize the fracture.

In January 2008, Mr McCabe had a further surgery on his left leg to remove a metal screw holding the rod in place which had started to protrude.

Dr Awin said the last time he saw Mr McCabe was in June 2009, almost a year after the alleged murder, and at that point Mr McCabe’s leg had fully healed.

Previously, Darren Murphy, a neighbour of the deceased told the court he was woken on the morning of the shooting by a bang followed a couple of seconds later by a second bang and then screaming.

He said he looked out of his bedroom window and saw two people running away from the deceased's house in Belturbet Co Cavan.

"The second person had a bad limp on the left side and he was running slightly behind the other man," he said.

Leon Frahill, who was staying in the deceased’s house on the morning of the shooting had previously told the court he saw two men running from the house.

He said: "The second person was limping it was Trevor McCabe."

The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Barry White and a jury of eight men and four women.