Man 'stabbed supermarket raider seven times'

A jury at the trial of a Dublin man accused of murder heard he stabbed the raider of a supermarket seven times as he was attempting to make his getaway after a robbery two years ago.

David Wilson (aged 22), of Marigold Avenue, Darndale has pleaded not guilty to murdering Paul Howe (aged 22) at the Supervalu car park on the Howth Road, Killester, Dublin 3 on October 8, 2008.

Opening the case in the Central Criminal Court today Mr Paul Burns SC, prosecuting, said it was the State’s case that David Wilson stabbed Mr Howe seven times, having pursued him out of the store and dispossessed him of his knife.

The court heard that on the night of October 8, 2008 two men armed with knives carried out a robbery at the supermarket.

Mr Burns SC told the jury one of those two men was the deceased, Mr Paul Howe, from Glenshane Crescent, Tallaght, Dublin 24.

Following the robbery the two men fled the store with the intention of climbing over a wall in the car park which had wooden pallets stacked against it thereby enabling them to escape.

The men were pursued by the store detective and a number of others including the accused man David Wilson.

One of the men managed to escape over the wall but the other, Mr Howe, was pulled back to the ground by Mr Wilson.

Mr Burns SC told the jury they would hear evidence of how Mr Howe was brought down wrestled to the ground and beaten.

He said; "Mr Howe was dispossessed of the knife, the accused man picked up the knife and subsequently stabbed Mr Howe a total of seven times."

A post-mortem carried out by Dr Marie Cassidy , State Pathologist, revealed that the deceased suffered stab wounds to the right breast, chest wall, abdomen, left thigh and three on the left side of his back.

Prosecuting counsel told the jury they would hear evidence from Dr Cassidy that the seven stab wounds were the cause of Mr Howe’s death, in particular the stab wound to the chest which caused lung damage and blood loss.

He said; "It is the prosecutions case that Mr Wilson’s stabbing was unnecessary, unlawful and in carrying out that stabbing Mr David Wilson murdered Paul Howe."

The court heard that by the time gardaí arrived at the scene Mr Howe had already been stabbed. He was taken to Beaumont Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 11:12pm.

The jury were shown CCTV footage of the night in question from inside the supermarket and footage of the car park at the back of the store.

A man wearing a striped jumper, identified as Mr Howe, was seen entering the store at 7:10 pm and purchasing three knives.

Over an hour later the footage showed two men, one of whom was identified as Mr Howe, entering the store with hoods covering their faces.

The men were seen approaching different cash registers and threatening the female cash attendants with knives before removing cash from the tills.

A group of young men were recorded standing outside the entrance, one of whom was identified as the accused.

Mr Wilson was wearing distinctive attire, dressed in three-quarter length jeans, white runners and a yellow and grey top.

As Mr Howe was recorded fleeing the store Mr Wilson was seen throwing a can at him before leading the chase followed by the store security man and others.

Footage from the car park at the back of the store showed Mr Howe being pursued by the group with Mr Wilson still leading the chase.

The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice George Birmingham and a jury of seven men and five women.