Head injury 'substantially' contributed to farmer's death, court hears

The Assistant State Pathologist has today told the trial of two brothers accused of murdering a farmer, that the head injury he sustained during a dispute on their farmyard “substantially” contributed to his death.

The jury was told that Edward Dempsey, a 49-year-old cattle farmer in the Laois/Offaly area, never fully regained consciousness after receiving a blow to the head during the row in December 2006.