A 34-year-old father-of-two was beaten to death after he had too much to drink at a stag do, became "messy" and irritated one of the two men accused of his murder, a barrister has told the Central Criminal Court.
Lorcan Staines SC opened the case for the prosecution in the trial of Philip Disney (27) and Sean Carlyle (30) who deny murdering Vincent Parsons at Killinarden Way, near the Killinarden Inn in Tallaght on August 26th, 2019.
Mr Staines said the deceased had been drinking for several hours at a friend's stag do when he became "messy", started hugging people and began to irritate others in the Killinarden Inn before coming to the attention of the accused man Mr Disney. There were words between them and, counsel said, Mr Disney became irritated and agitated and could be seen on CCTV raising his arm and pointing at Mr Parsons before saying something to him.
Black van
Counsel said: "Whatever it was that was said, it caused Vincent Parsons to run. He immediately left the pub out the front door and ran left and away from the pub."
Mr Staines said it is the prosecution case that the two accused left the pub within minutes, got into a black van and then got out of the van at a green area nearby where counsel said they beat Mr Parsons to death. Some 48 seconds after stopping at the green area, they got back into the van and drove to Mr Carlyle's home, counsel said.
Mr Staines said the State's case is that Mr Carlyle changed his clothes, and the pair then left the van "off side" at a nearby housing estate and got a lift back to the pub where he said they could be seen returning on CCTV about 30 to 35 minutes after they had left.
The barrister said that a watch belonging to Mr Parsons, which was a gift from his daughter with the inscription, "To Dad, love Jade, Xmas 2011", was found in the van that the prosecution alleges belonged to Mr Carlyle.
He said that the deceased's blood was also found on a pair of shorts that Mr Carlyle was wearing when gardaí entered his house with a warrant less than seven hours after the alleged murder.
He said it is the State's case that the two accused were part of a joint enterprise to murder Mr Parsons.
Sean Carlyle (30), with an address at Donomore Avenue, Tallaght and Philip Disney (27) of Donomore Crescent, Tallaght, have pleaded not guilty to the murder of Vincent Parsons at Killinarden Way, Tallaght on August 26th, 2019.
When Mr Parsons's body was found gardai immediately began an investigation and at 6am, less than seven hours after the accused men could be seen on CCTV returning to the Killinarden Inn, gardaí were at Mr Carlyle's home with a search warrant.
Blood
Mr Staines said they found Mr Carlyle in a cabin at the back of the house where he was in bed wearing sports leisure clothing. They seized the clothes and following analysis the blood of Mr Parsons was found on the front right leg of the shorts Mr Carlyle had been wearing.
Blood belonging to Mr Carlyle was also found on a runner and a towel in the cabin. Gardai noticed cuts to Mr Carlyle's hands which he told them were from boxing. The following day gardai searched Mr Disney's home and he gave them what he said were the clothes he was wearing the previous night. Mr Staines said the prosecution alleges that the shorts he gave to gardai were not the ones he could be seen wearing the previous evening.
He said that Mr Carlyle and Mr Disney were involved in a "joint enterprise or common design" to murder Mr Parsons. They "acted as a team" from the earlier interaction with Mr Parsons to when they returned to the Killinarden Inn, Mr Staines said.
He said it is a circumstantial evidence case with no eyewitnesses, no CCTV of the actual killing and no confession from either of the accused. He added: "In this case, what it boils down to is coincidence, and ultimately you ladies and gentlemen, your tolerance for coincidence, how many little coincidences are required before you can say that you are satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that this is not coincidence or that it would be an affront to common sense to put it down to coincidence."
The trial continues on Wednesday in front of Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo and a jury of six men and six women.
* This article was amended at 5.50pm on November 30th, 2022.
