Murder accused 'stabbed victim to calm him down'

A Dublin man on trial for the murder of a supermarket raider told gardaí he stabbed him twice with a knife to calm him down but he never meant to kill him the Central Criminal Court heard today.

David Wilson (aged 22), of Marigold Avenue, Darndale has pleaded not guilty to murdering Paul Howe (aged 22) as he attempted to make his get away following a robbery at Supervalu on the Howth Road on October 8, 2008.

It is the prosecution’s case that Mr Wilson stabbed Mr Howe seven times, with a knife used in the raid, as he was trying to escape over a wall in the store car park.

Det. Sgt Finnuala Olahan told the court she went to the home of the accused on the morning after the killing having obtained a search warrant.

Mr Wilson answered the door and said: "I know what this about he tried to stab me first."

Det. Sgt Olahan arrested Mr Wilson and took him to Clontarf Garda Station for questioning, in the car he told her he had intended to hand himself in later that morning.

During interviews, Mr Wilson told gardaí he got the bus from his home to Marino at around 5:30pm on the evening of the killing with two of his friends; Keith O’Reilly and Patrick Flynn.

The group went to the off licence and purchased cans of ‘’Stronghouse’’ cider before catching the bus to the Supervalu in Killester to wait for some girls they knew who were working there.

At around 7:30pm Mr Wilson said he heard branches snapping so he walked over to the trees near the car park and saw two men hiding in the bushes.

"When they saw me one said 'where is Joey we are hiding from him', I said 'you want to watch the garda'. I thought they had robbed one of the houses," he told gardaí.

The next time he saw the men was when they walked into the side entrance of the shop with their hoods up around their faces.

When asked by gardaí if he had seen the robbery he replied: "I looked in the window and saw the fella closest to the door had a knife to one of the girl's throat, he was the one who got stabbed he was the last out."

He told gardaí the last man out was swinging the knife at him and screaming: "What are you going to do. What are you going to do", so he threw one of his cans at him before chasing him.

When he reached Mr Howe at the wall he wrestled him to the ground and realised he still had the knife.

"I was alright when he was on the ground until the light was shining down and I saw the knife and I thought I was dead, when he swung for me he stabbed himself and let out a roar."

Mr Wilson told gardaí he saw the knife on the ground and he picked it up in his right hand and stabbed Mr Howe.

He said: "I didn’t do it to hurt him just to calm him down I never meant to kill him, I did two little jabs in his body and that is when I saw the blood and I got a fright."

When asked by gardaí what he did after the stabbing he replied: "I came around the corner and said; ‘What the F*** am I after doing.’ I saw a guy in a Supervalu t-shirt and I handed him the knife but he wouldn’t take it so I went over and put it in the bin."

He told gardaí he went to a laneway nearby and rang his friend Keith to come and meet him and the pair got a taxi to Darndale.

When asked what he did when he got home he said: "I told my sister someone sliced my leg and that I stabbed him too, then I changed my clothes and went downstairs to watch TV with my Ma’s fella."