Cork stab victim '100%' sure of hooded man's identity

The stabbing victim was driven to the nearby Mercy University Hospital Cork by his wife after the incident on North Main St. Picture: Larry Cummins

A man sitting in the front passenger seat of a car parked in Cork City centre at 10.30am in the morning was stabbed through the open window by a hooded man who then ran away, a court has heard.

David Ross, 30, pleaded not guilty to all charges in relation to the case and was put on trial at Cork Circuit Criminal Court today.

Mr Ross, of Gurranabraher, Cork, was put on trial on charges of assault causing serious harm and assault causing harm to Trevor O’Sullivan at North Main St, Cork, at 10.30am on October 1, 2019. He was also accused of producing a knife during the alleged incident and threatening to kill both Mr O’Sullivan and his wife, Katie Nugent.

By direction of Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin, he was found not guilty on the two threats and on the serious harm charges. The jury will continue their deliberations tomorrow on the two remaining charges, namely assault causing harm and producing the knife.

Trevor O’Sullivan said he was asleep in the front passenger seat of the car parked on North Main St, Cork, when his wife, Katie Nugent, called into a beauty salon to make an appointment. He said the window was open beside him. 

Sinead Behan, prosecution barrister, asked: “What do you remember happened?” Mr O’Sullivan said: “I don’t remember much, to be honest.” 

“Did you feel something?” Ms Behan asked. 

“A sharp pain in my neck. I grabbed it. Grabbed my neck,” he said.

“Did you see what was going on?” she asked. Mr O’Sullivan replied: “Kind of, yeah. Someone with a hood up.” 

Asked about his injuries, he said he was injured in his hand and leg around his kneecap.

“Did you see who it was?” Ms Behan asked. “I did, yeah,” he replied.

 “Who was it?” the barrister asked. 

“David Ross there,” he replied. “He was swinging.”  

“Swinging what?” Ms Behan asked. 

“A knife,” he said.

“I opened the passenger door and jumped out. He [Mr Ross] ran up the road… towards the hospital. My wife came back. She drove me to hospital. He [Mr Ross] was there roaring and shouting.”

Asked what Ross was shouting, he said he could not remember as he was in a bad condition. 

“My leg was in bits,” he said. The witness said his wife drove him to another hospital instead.

Cross-examining, Tom Creed, senior counsel said: “Mr Ross will maintain he did not stab you.” 

Mr O’Sullivan said: “Of course he is going to maintain that.” 

Asked again about the identity of the hooded man who stabbed him, he said: “I am 100% on that.” 

At the end of his cross-examination, he said he gave the evidence because he did not want to be accused of being involved in “a gangland feud” and he said that is not what it was. 

Mr O’Sullivan said of Mr Ross: “I would prefer if the young fella did not go to jail. I don’t even want to argue with him.” 

Katie Nugent said when she drove her husband to Mercy University Hospital that morning after 10.30am, Mr Ross was outside. 

“He was beating his chest and spitting at us,” she said.