The trial of a Tipperary man charged with the murder of his mother’s partner has started.
The murder trial has heard that a 43 year old man allegedly attacked the partner of his mother, raining blows down on him, stabbing him in the ear with a broken bottle, and then bringing a sofa repeatedly down on top of him as he lay defenseless on the floor.
Andrew Nash of Parnell Street in Thurles, Co Tipperary is charged with the murder of British national, Jonathan (John) Ustic, on a date unknown between September 24 and 25th, 2017 at High Street in Skibbereen, Co Cork.
Mr Nash, 43, who was wearing a white shirt and dark pants, replied “not guilty” when he was arraigned at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork today. (Monday)
Prosecuting counsel, Sean Gillane, SC, said that Mr Ustic was in a relationship with Suzanne Fenton, the mother of the accused, at the time of the alleged offence. She has since passed away.
Mr Gillane said that a postmortem on Mr Ustic, performed by now retired State Pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy, indicated that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, neck and chest. Acute alcohol intoxication was a contributory factor in the death.
Mr Gillane said the “acute intoxication” of Mr Ustic could have impacted on his ability to defend himself in the event of an attack. He said that “consumption of a significant amount of alcohol” was a significant feature of the case.
Mr Ustic was living at the address in High Street in Skibbereen with Ms Fenton. They had previously resided in other parts of the country.
The Prosecuting barrister gave the jury an outline of the case. He said that the evidence would be that Mr Nash had bumped in to a couple he knew at McDonald’s in Winthrop Street on the evening of September 23rd , 2017. He didn’t have anywhere to stay in the city and went to their home in Ballinhassig, Co Cork for the night.
Mr Gillane said the couple and Mr Nash went to a premises in Bishopstown in Cork city for food and alcohol on September 24th, 2017. Mr Nash received a phone call from his mother and a decision was made that the couple, Nicola Colgan and Thomas Fitchett, go to Skibbereen in their car with Mr Nash.
He said that the trio went to the house of the mother of Andrew Nash arriving at about 5pm. He said that the evidence of the State would be that Nash went upstairs and “struck him (Ustic) with a number of blows to the cheek. However, Mr Gillane said that “things settled down.”
Some socialising and drinking subsequently occurred in Lough Hyne, in Baltimore. Mr Gillane said that CCTV of when the group returned to High Street at 7.30pm would show what transpired.
He said that Mr Nash pulled Mr Ustic from the car leading him to “violently hit his head off the ground” in the car park.
He said that the evidence would be that Mr Nash and the couple returned to 15 High Street. Mr Ustic was “left prone in the car park on the ground.”
Mr Gillane said that the condition of Ustic was such that “people passing by were concerned about him. They called the nearby garda station which was shut.”
Mr Gillane said that Nash and Fitchett allegedly later emerged from the house and picked Ustic up.
“They picked him (Ustic) up and brought him back to the house carrying him under the armpits with his feet dragging on the ground. He (Ustic) is insensible at that stage.
Mr Gillane said that Nash allegedly threw Ustic to the ground.
“You will hear tension arose and language was used. You will hear that Mr Nash attacked Mr Ustic. He (Nash) rained blows down on him, stabbed him in the ear with a broken bottle and stamped on his head. He (Nash) lifted up a sofa and he brought it down repeatedly on the head and chest area of Mr Ustic. Mr Fitchett will describe those events.”
The following morning Suzanne Fenton raised the alarm. Mr Ustic was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mr Gillane said that Mr Nash was seen in West Cork the day after the alleged offence. However, he left Cork. He was later arrested and whilst he accepted what Gillane called “giving slaps” to Ustic he denied inflicting any injuries that caused his death.
The trial is expected to last between two to three weeks and will have in the region of a hundred witnesses. It is being presided over by Mr Justice Michael McGrath.
Mr Ustic, who was a father of one from Cornwall had previously lived in Drimoleague and Bantry in Co Cork and in Co Tipperary following his relocation to Ireland from the UK in the mid 2000’s.
