A pathologist has described observing the heavily blood-smeared face of a 78-year-old widower lying on his kitchen floor, injuries which she said were “in keeping with multiple kicks, blows and stamping”.
The Central Criminal Court heard that pensioner John O’Neill had suffered severe blunt force trauma to the face with multiple fractures to the facial bones and a traumatic brain injury.
It is the prosecution’s case that Mr O’Neill died after a vicious attack by his nephew, who they submit had repeatedly kicked him to the head while wearing steel capped boots.
The trial has heard that gardaí recovered a pair of bloodied boots from a house where the accused, Thomas Lorigan who is alleged to have kicked his uncle to death, had stayed the night before the body was found.
Mr Lorigan,34, of no fixed abode has pleaded not guilty to murdering John O’Neill at St Brendan’s Road, Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare on a date unknown between 6 January and 7 January 2022.
The trial has heard that Mr Lorigan was known by the nickname ‘Mossy’ in the Clare area and was the deceased’s nephew.
The jury has heard that Mr O’Neill lived alone and previously ran a bed and breakfast at his home along with his wife, who passed away in the summer of 2021.
Giving evidence, Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster told Eilis Brennan SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, that she examined the scene on 7 January.
She said the deceased was lying on his back in the kitchen with his legs bent.
The jeans were torn above the knee joints and his jumper was very heavily blood-stained.
He was wearing no shoes and a sock was partially pulled off the right foot.
The witness said Mr O’Neill’s face was heavily blood-stained and there was a very large pool of blood under the head.
The next day Dr Bolster conducted a postmortem on Mr O’Neill at Limerick University Hospital.
The expert witness testified that there was heavy blood smearing on the face and a large amount of bleeding from the nose.
The dentures in the upper jaw were broken and the face “was flattened in appearance” with the nose turned to the right side.
There was a large volume of haemorrhage to the nose and mouth and multiple fractures of the lower jaw.
Referring to external marks and injuries to the face, Dr Bolster said there was extensive bruising behind the left ear towards the left temporal region, which extended over the lower jaw bone.
The bruising extended to the nose and there was a deep full thickness laceration over the bridge of the nose.
There was a very extensive fracture of the nasal bone with extensive bruising down to the upper lip.
The bruising extended across the right cheek from the eye down to the lower jaw bone and to the right earlobe.
There were also lacerations and bruising inside the mouth.
There was also evidence of bruising to the hands, mainly between the knuckles and to the fingers themselves.
The witness pointed out that there were abrasions or grazing to the lower limbs and hip joint.
In her evidence, Dr Bolster said the deceased’s heart was normal for a 78-year-old man and had nothing to do with his death.
There were multiple fractures to the nasal bone and hyoid bone.
She said the blood from the facial injuries went down into the windpipe, which “flooded” the lungs.
She said there was very extensive blunt force trauma to the head with fractures and bruising.
The brain was sent for a more detailed examination and found to have multiple cerebral brain injuries.
She said the tearing of the nerve fibres was from trauma due to the brain swinging around in the cavity from multiple blows.
There was evidence of significant brain trauma with bleeding to the membrane covering the brain, she said.
In conclusion, Dr Bolster said there was very severe blunt force trauma to the head, mainly to the facial area with multiple fractures to the facial bones, jawbone and right orbital.
She went on to say that lacerations to both earlobes were characteristic of kicking.
“The findings are in keeping with multiple kicks, blows and stamping to the face,” she added.
The witness said there would have been a considerable depression in the level of consciousness, which would have made the deceased more vulnerable to inhaling blood into the lungs as a consequence of “the very severe facial and neck trauma”.
A toxicology report showed an alcohol level of 97 mgs, which was the equivalent of three pints.
The cause of death, she said, was respiratory compromise due to the inhalation of blood [difficulty in breathing and getting air into the lungs] from very severe blunt force trauma to the face and neck with multiple fractures of the facial bones together with haemorrhaging and a traumatic brain injury.
The next witness, Heather Crowe, said she and her husband ran The Ritz Hotel in Lisdoonvarna and that a person had identified himself to her as Thomas O’Neill in October 2021.
She said she crossed paths with him in the hotel many times after this and that sometimes he would dry his wet clothes or charge his phone in the hotel.
She said from the end of November 2021 several local people had referred to him as ‘Mossy’.
She said the man always wore blue jeans, black boots, a black snood, sometimes a green khaki jacket, a hat with earmuffs and gloves.
Asked about the black boots, Ms Crowe said they were steel toe capped boots, which looked like work boots to her.
Under cross-examination, the witness told Michael Bowman SC, defending, that she referred to the man as ‘Mossy’ when he was in her pub.
She said the man was always wearing steel capped boots and that she was sure they were “steel tipped” as her husband had an identical pair.
The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of five men and seven women.
