16 knife injuries inflicted on Kildare man does not fit murder accused's account of self-defence, court told
Evidence of 16 separate knife injuries suffered by a 50-year-old man during a "ferocious attack" in a Co Kildare apartment does not fit with a murder accused's account of having stabbed the deceased in self-defence, a prosecution barrister has told a murder trial.
The 12 jurors were also told by the State on Thursday that the accused Ryan Kearney had told the first garda who arrived at the scene that it was "balaclava-clad men who had carried out the attack".
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Mr Brendan Grehan SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the jurors would also hear that when the defendant was cautioned by gardaí, he had replied: "I stabbed Jeffrey but did not murder him, he was my friend, that's it".
Mr Kearney (39), with an address at Loughnamona Drive, Leixlip, Co Kildare, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Jeffrey Jackson (50) at The Lamps, School Street, Kilcock, Co Kildare on February 8th, 2024.
In his opening address to the Central Criminal Court jury on Thursday, Mr Grehan, prosecuting, said "The Lamps" on School Street is a two-storey apartment complex in Kilcock, which was home to witness Breda Kearney, who the jury will hear from in due course.
Counsel said the deceased Mr Jackson, had been in a relationship with Ms Kearney for over a year in February 2024.
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Mr Grehan added: "Ryan Kearney was a nephew through marriage to Breda Kearney in so far as the accused's uncle Michael Kearney had been married to Breda Kearney, but that relationship was no longer in existence".
In relation to the evidence against the accused, Mr Grehan said Ryan Kearney had arrived at Ms Kearney's apartment with two bags of shopping shortly before 2pm on Thursday, February 8, 2024. He said Ms Kearney and Mr Jackson were in the apartment at the time.
A short time after Ryan Kearney arrived, Ms Kearney left the apartment around 3.24pm to go to the local supermarket to get more alcohol; "perhaps a bottle of vodka". Counsel said Ms Kearney was visible on CCTV footage returning in the direction of the apartment at 3.34pm.
Mr Grehan added: "It's a very tight timeframe and a very small window of opportunity for things to occur".
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Detailing the evidence that will be heard, counsel said when Ms Kearney arrived back at her apartment she found Mr Jackson "in a very bad way" on the sofa, not conscious and bleeding from various wounds.
The barrister said the accused had said something to the effect of "I think I killed him, I stabbed him in the neck".
Mr Grehan said the evidence will be that Ms Kearney rang the emergency services at 3.41pm.
The barrister said the call taker was told a man had been stabbed in the apartment. "Specifically, one of the things the call taker was told, which the prosecution says was by Ryan Kearney, was to the effect that a number of men in balaclavas were responsible for what had occurred inside".
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The jurors, he said, would hear from a paramedic who had administered First Aid to Mr Jackson. He said the paramedic made a decision that there was no point in carrying out emergency resuscitation.
The lawyer said the panel would also hear that Ryan Kearney repeated to the first garda at the scene "the suggestion that it was balaclava-clad men who had carried out the attack".
Counsel said a knife was found on the kitchen sink and that blood was noted in various places, as well as "various wounds the deceased had suffered to the stomach and chest area".
Ryan Kearney, counsel said, was arrested at the scene by Detective Sergeant Gerard Moore at 4.30pm.
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During his interviews Ryan Kearney claimed he had acted in self-defence and been attacked by Mr Jackson "coming at him with a knife".
When the accused was released from detention, Det Sgt Moore charged him with the murder of Mr Jackson. Mr Grehan said the jurors would hear that when Ryan Kearney was cautioned, he had replied: "I stabbed Jeffrey but did not murder him, he was my friend, that's it".
The barrister said it is the State's case that when all the evidence had been heard the jurors would be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Ryan Kearney had murdered the deceased and that he had "lied to the call taker about others involved as he had lied to the first garda on the scene suggesting it was men wearing balaclavas who had attacked Mr Jackson".
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The lawyer also said it was the prosecution's contention that the accused's subsequent suggestion that he had acted in self-defence was not supported by the evidence in the case. He said the injuries inflicted on the deceased suggest a "fairly ferocious attack" on Mr Jackson.
Mr Grehan said State pathologist Dr Sally Anne Collis found 16 separate knife injuries on the deceased. "They were distributed all around the body, head, face, chest, some on the legs; It did not fit with the scenario where Ryan Kearney suggested he had jabbed a few times, having taken the knife off Mr Jackson, who attacked him".
Counsel said the accused had no injuries except a small cut to one of his fingers. In conclusion, Mr Grehan said the prosecution will submit to the jurors that the evidence doesn't fit with the accused's account of having acted in self-defence.
The trial continues this afternoon before Mr Justice Paul Burns and a jury of three men and nine women. It is expected to last two weeks.
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