This article is from page 17 of the 2009-02-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
IT WAS Michael Doherty’s friends who started the row outside Su- pemac’s, defence counsel told the jury. Senior Counsel Patrick Gageby told the jury that the proper verdict was ‘not guilty.’
“The prosecution sees no alterna- tive to murder. By doing that, they have ignored all the difficulties in the
case,” he said.
In his closing speech, Mr Gageby told the jury it would be wrong to have a prejudice against either Trav- ellers or the gardai. Mr Doherty, he said, came from a Traveller back- ground, while the accused’s father is a garda in the traffic corps. “No part of this case is anything to do with that,” he said.
Mr Gageby said that three witness-
es did not tell gardai that the accused had used the word ‘knacker’ until several days after the incident. The three, he said, made the claim “‘sud- denly on the 3rd and 4th (July), out of the woodwork,” in what he said was an “extraordinary coincidence”’.
He said if they had heard that word being used, surely it would have MeAUCC) QB UOMO SLoiDmmeauN NTO lcae
“Why the collective amnesia? What
a coincidence,” he said.
He said it was Dylan Dinan – a friend of Mr Doherty – who started the trouble, by saying to McGovern, ‘Do you know who you are messing ele eae
“Dylan Dinan said John had punched Michael into the jaw. Dr Curtis found no such mark on Michael’s face,” he said.
Mr Gageby made reference to the
comment Kate McDaid said had been made by McGovern, that Mr Doherty was a *knacker.’ “He should not have said it. It was very wrong to say. It was said in a time of stress. . . SCRA Eom D ice hobcam-Deeloye realm nu los 010 Kmaem als said. However he told the jury, “You can’t convict somebody because they said that.”
He said the accused took “one swing” of the knife and the blow came using “moderate force’, ac- cording to the Deputy State Patholo- gist Dr Michael Curtis, who carried out the post mortem examination on Mr Doherty’s body.
He said that the accused had been previously assaulted in Ennis and was “hardly likely to be the guy to start a fight. . . I suggest Michael’s friends caused the row.”
He told the jury the issue of self-de- fence must be considered. ““The knife was taken out with a view to keeping the man back. Look at how danger- ous he was with his fists,” he said.
“There was no intention to kill or cause serious injury. He used no more force than was necessary at the time. Murder isn’t in it one bit at all, nor is manslaughter,” he said.
“Not within an inch could this be described as murder and not within an inch culpable homicide.”
He told the jury the accused was of good character and it was “highly unlikely he started or was interested in starting the fight.”
“The fact that Michael is dead 1s the greatest tragedy. His people are very nice people. The boys he was out with that night, I can’t say the same about them,” he said.