'Ashamed ' manslaughter accused told gardaí he was acting in self-defence, trial hears

During the confrontation Mr Mullally fell back on the ground. He suffered a subdural haemorrhage and brain trauma due to a blunt trauma to his head and died the next day.

After his arrest the accused said he was heartbroken when gardaí told him that Mr Mullally had died. He admitted that his actions had resulted in Mr Mullally's death but said that he had not intended anything like that to happen.

He said that he and his girlfriend had been at an Adele concert and then went back to Lillie's Bordello nightclub in the city centre. The jury has heard that Mr Dargan had worked as a doorman there.

The accused told gardaí that he was upset because he was thinking about the fatal shooting of his mother and Mothers' Day was coming up. He said he and his partner were both very drunk and they got into a row on their way home.

He said he had drank a number of cocktails and other drinks and was very drunk but decided to drive home because he was so upset. He said he and his fiancee were arguing and she asked to get out of his car so he stopped the car and let her out.

He drove off a little but then decided he didn't want to leave her there and went back and asked her to get in. He said he grabbed her arm and was trying to get her to come into the car.

He said a cyclist stopped and asked him what he was doing. He said he told this man it was “a domestic” and to "fuck off". He denied he threatened to stamp his head off the ground and said he would never say that.

He said the cyclist moved on and stopped up at some others and he then saw a number of men approaching him. He said he believed things were going “to kick off” and he told his girlfriend they needed to go.

He said around two to three men surrounded him in “an arc” and he just wanted to get away but he felt surrounded. He said he couldn't remember what he or any of the men said but said “we were all getting lippy”.

Gardaí put it to him that CCTV footage did not show him being surrounded by three to four people and that he didn't suffer any injuries. Mr Dargan said at the time he felt surrounded and was in fear.

He said he feared he was going to be attacked and threw the first punch and “there were punches flying everywhere”. He said he wasn't wearing his glasses and was “blind” and the men were just silhouettes to him.

He said he punched one man and then a second man was by his side. He said he felt a third person grabbing him around his throat from behind and he swung around to punch this person.

Asked if his girlfriend could have been trying to “drag” him away from the row the accused replied that he didn't know, he was very drunk, and it was a melee.

He said at one stage a woman came up and hit his girlfriend. He said he wanted to get away and he didn't realise that one man had been badly injured.

He said he felt ashamed of what he had done to Mr Mullally and his family. He said “because of my actions that man is dead” but said he believed at the time that he was defending himself.

Asked if his training as a tae-kwon-do instructor gave him other options than punching out he said he was drunk and felt surrounded.

Detective Sergeant Mark O'Neill told Vincent Heneghan SC, defending, that he was present for the interviews and believed the defendant's expressions of sorrow and remorse were genuine. He said that before learning Mr Mullaly had died Mr Dargan repeatedly asked if he was going to be okay.

The trial continues before Judge Pauline Codd and a jury of five women and seven men.