Tipperary man pleads not guilty to murder of father

A 23-year-old Tipperary man has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to murdering his father with a spade last year.

James McInerney of Lacey Avenue in Templemore has gone on trial, accused of murdering 56-year-old James ‘Jimmy’ McInerney Snr at the family home on June 17, 2009.

Patrick Gageby SC, prosecuting, opened the case by telling the jury that there was an amount of family history that would come to the fore during the trial.

He said the deceased was prone to being quarrelsome and difficult, especially with alcohol consumed. He said the jury of seven men and five women might have sympathy for the accused, the victim’s widow and family but could not let this sway them.

Mr Gageby said the deceased slept in a caravan in the back yard and was not allowed into the house when he had drink taken. He had spent the day he died with his son, the accused. They had been looking at horses and had a couple of beers together in the victim’s caravan.

The caravan was sold that day in a deal involving a horse and delivered elsewhere. The deceased had a lot to drink and came home cross just before 10pm, said Mr Gageby.

He broke a bottle in the back yard and broke the windows of the defendant’s van. A fight then broke out and the accused beat his father to death with a spade in the back garden, he said. He was dead by the time the emergency services arrived.

Mr Gageby said that the victim had severe head and facial wounds, blunt force trauma to the trunk, a crush injury to his liver and cracked ribs. Some injuries to his head could have been inflicted while he was on the ground, he added.

He said that the accused was arrested that evening and mentioned both self defence and pay-back time. He said there was some hitting on the ground, but that he didn’t mean to kill his father, just give him a beating.

Mr Gageby said that the issues at the fore of the case may be lawful or excessive self defence and provocation.

The jury was then shown a photograph of the victim’s body, along with photos of the spade and a wheel brace found at the scene.

The trial before Mr Justice John Edwards is expected to last six days.