Witness tells Carrigaline murder trial he saw men assaulting Matt O'Neill four days before his death

Irish Army veteran described seeing two men in the middle of the road 'digging' Mr O'Neill on Christmas Eve, 2022

Ricardo Hoey has pleaded not guilty to murder. Picture: Dan Linehan

A murder trial jury was given evidence on Wednesday of the deceased man being assaulted in Carrigaline four days before the incident which the prosecution says caused his death.

21-year-old Ricardo Hoey, of 7 Ardcarrig, Carrigaline, Co Cork, and 19-year-old Jordan Deasy, of 41 Ravensdale, Heron's Wood, Cork, both deny the single charge against them that on December 28, 2022, at Glenwood estate, Carrigaline, Co Cork, they did murder 29-year-old Matt O’Neill, contrary to common law.

The evidence heard on the third day of the trial centred around another incident which occurred on Christmas Eve 2022 — four days before the incident at the centre of the case.

Brian Coniry, who served 33 years in the Irish Army, was visiting family in Crosshaven that evening and was returning home to Cork with his wife, Pamela, when he spotted something in his peripheral vision and he turned the car around by the community centre and saw there was a melee in the middle of the road.

Jordan Deasy has pleaded not guilty to murder. Picture: Cork Courts Limited

“There was a guy in the middle of the road with a guy in front of him and a guy behind him and they were digging him. I got out of the car and roared at them to get off him.

One guy was kneeling down and they were throwing digs into his head. A guy came from my right hand side and said, ‘You have no idea what you are getting involved in’.

“I helped Matt up — I am calling him Matt but I didn’t know him at the time. He looked defenceless. He put his baseball hat back on. I put him into the car. I asked where he lived and I dropped him home. He was talking away goodo,” Mr Coniry said.

The late Matt O’Neill asked him to stop at the off-licence on the way home and gave him money to buy him two naggins of vodka.

The deceased offered them ‘sweets’ before he got out of the car at his home but Mr and Mrs Coniry declined this offer. Mr Coniry said: “I helped him out of the car. I shook hands with him and he gave me a hug. He went into his house."

As for the punches given to Mr O’Neill during this Christmas Eve incident, Mr Coniry said: “I would call them rabbit punches — little jabs, not big, wild punches. They did not look vicious.” 

The late Matt O'Neill was described by a witness as 'nice and not at all threatening'. Picture: rip.ie

Pamela Coniry said Mr O’Neill was being attacked by two other men. In her statement to gardaí she said: “This was a full-on attack on a defenceless male”, and that he was not able to get up off the ground on his own and did so with the assistance of her husband. 

In the car afterwards, she found that he was nice and not at all threatening.

The jury also heard evidence from three young man involved in this December 24 2022 incident and they variously stated it was a scuffle and Mr O’Neill was ‘perfect’ when he got into the car afterwards.

Evidence of Dr Eimear McCarthy was read to the jury. As the deceased man’s GP since 2006, she said he suffered generalised anxiety disorder and was on diazepam.

“He had a long history of addiction and substance misuse. He was discharged from Tabor Lodge [treatment centre] his anxiety was so severe,” Dr McCarthy said. 

However, she said that despite his addiction issues he did not have physical health issues that would have made him susceptible.

The trial continues.