Shannon murder accused had denied re-entering nightclub with a knife for revenge

The accused described an incident where the deceased punched him a second time on that night

Nathan O’Neill is on trial at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork on a charge of murdering Jamie Higgins at the Shannon Knights licensed premises in County Clare in 2018. File photo: Larry Cummins

The Limerick man accused of murder at a Shannon nightclub denied going back into the premises with a knife for revenge after being punched by the deceased.

Describing the incident where the deceased punched him a second time on that night, the accused said to investigating gardaí: “Jamie hit me and I swung the knife at him.” He said the late Jamie Higgins made contact with this punch – hitting the accused in the lower lip. 

Asked: “Did you stab him at this point?" The accused man, Nathan O’Neill, said: “Yeah, I think so.” He denied the suggestion that he had armed himself with a knife and come back to the club for revenge because the deceased had punched him earlier – the first of two assaults that night.

Nathan O’Neill, in a memo of a garda interview that was read to the judge and jury, said: “I just want to say sorry. I just panicked and got scared. I just got caught in the moment. I am not a bad person. I didn’t mean to do it. I was back in work – I wanted to go to college. 

"Now everyone is going to think this is the guy who done this. This is the brush I am going to be painted with. I was not raised to do this.” 

23-year-old Nathan O’Neill, who was 19 at the time and from Hill Top Drive, Dooradoyle, Limerick, is on trial at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork on a charge of murdering Jamie Higgins at the Shannon Knights licensed premises at Tullyvarraga, Shannon, County Clare, on March 18, 2018. He admits manslaughter but denies murder. He pleaded guilty to causing serious harm to Michael Shannon.

He told gardaí that about four minutes after he arrived in the ‘The Knights’, Jamie Higgins passed him and said: “What’s happening, faggot.” He said Jamie Higgins then punched him in the lip with his fist.

Nathan O’Neill said he went away to the bar area, took a sip from a bottle of Desperado’s beer and broke the bottle, holding on to the broken neck of the bottle afterwards. “After being hit in the face, it was like shock, it was in front of everyone. I was holding the top part of the broken bottle. I get panic attacks at times.” 

He left the club for about an hour after that and went for a spin in his friend’s car. He said his friend was good at calming him down. Without his friend seeing him he (the accused) picked a knife from the floor of the car where there was an assortment of tools. 

He put it in his right jeans pocket and returned to the club. Asked why he didn’t just go home, he said his girlfriend was there and he was worried about her and did not want to leave her in the club.

“When Jamie punched me I pulled out the knife – it was actually in my front right pants pocket. When Jamie gave me the punch I stumbled. When they came in I just swung in panic, like. They came from behind me. I am not sure how many they were.

It was kind of a frenzy, a panic, I didn’t expect them to hit me. They had already hit me once. I didn’t think I hurt anyone. Every time they gave me a beating I never once retaliated. They already hit me once – no need to do it a second time.

Gardaí put it to him: “You went back a second time and you wanted revenge?” He replied: “No. I said it already, I never set out to hurt anyone. Do you think I went back to kill someone or something? No, never. I am not an idiot – taking someone’s life, throwing my own life away.

“I felt like glass. Anything would break me. They followed me before (not on this night) with a slash-hook. I was scared and nervous.

“I did not mean to hurt him. It happened so fast. I was broke from all this… I was nervous, I was scared, I was broken from all this. I not only took someone else’s life but I’ve thrown my own away.” 

Prosecution barrister, Lorcan Connolly, noted from the memo of the garda interview with the accused that Nathan O’Neill cried at that stage in the questioning. The trial before Ms Justice Eileen Creedon and the six women and six men of the jury continues.