A witness to a fatal stabbing has told a murder trial that after a fight broke out the deceased fell down "flat on his face" before the accused "straddled" him and started "digging the knife into him".
David Howard, a 54-year-old firefighter and paramedic, told the trial of Andrew Lacey that he is a cousin of the deceased, Derek Reddin.
He said he travelled with Mr Reddin to Loughlinstown because Mr Reddin was to have a "straightener" or a "boxing match" with Andrew Lacey. Mr Howard was there to "make sure it didn't get out of hand", he said.
The witness recalled that he and Mr Reddin were waiting for Mr Lacey by a hedge at the entrance to an estate on Loughlinstown Drive shortly before midnight when they saw Mr Lacey and a friend approaching with bags of fast food.
He said: "We edged out to where they could see us. They seen us and stepped onto the footpath and immediately Andrew Lacey dropped the bag and took out a knife."
He said Mr Lacey shouted "get it on" while waving the knife and he, Mr Howard, told Mr Reddin to "leave it for another day". He described Mr Lacey "waving and threatening" before Mr Reddin went towards Mr Lacey and they began scuffling on the ground.
Mr Howard told prosecution counsel Roisin Lacey SC that he got into a confrontation with Mr Lacey's friend.
He added: "Next minute I seen Derek running past me with Andrew Lacey chasing him with the knife in his hand." Mr Reddin was "trying to get away", he said, but "fell down flat on his face".
Mr Howard said he began speaking to the man he had previously been in the confrontation with and added "I could see Andrew Lacey. He was straddling him and digging the knife into him. He had his two legs over his body, basically sitting on him."
Mr Howard said he ran over and "punched Andrew Lacey off Derek" but Mr Lacey "jumped straight up and caught me with the knife on the chin".
He said Mr Lacey then began waving the knife to force Mr Howard back and said he was "going to carve me up". Mr Howard said he called out for Mr Reddin to get up and he saw his cousin "stumble a bit" before falling to the ground again.
Mr Howard ran to his cousin, turned him over, called his name and shook him. He said "Blood was pouring out of him, I was looking for a pulse and then it just went and there was no pulse."
Mr Howard had no phone so he ran to a nearby house and banged on the door. There was no response, he said, so he ran back to Mr Reddin and passed Mr Lacey standing on the road speaking on the phone to someone named "Gav".
Mr Howard said he told Mr Lacey, "you're after killing Derek" and asked him to ring an ambulance. He said he heard Mr Lacey say to "Gav" that he was "after killing Derek Reddin".
Baseball bat
The witness said the only person at the scene with a weapon was Mr Lacey. He said that earlier that day Mr Reddin showed him a small baseball bat that he had concealed in his tracksuit bottoms but Mr Howard said he told Mr Reddin he "won't need that" and Mr Reddin threw it away.
Mr Lacey (35) of Riverside, Loughlinstown, Co Dublin has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Derek Reddin (31) at Loughlinstown Drive on a date unknown between October 14th and October 15th, 2019, both dates inclusive.
Under cross-examination Mr Howard told Dominic McGinn SC, for the defence, that his understanding was that Mr Reddin would have "a straightener" or a "boxing match" with Mr Lacey.
He said he was "happy to go along with that" and he gave Mr Reddin a lift to Loughlinstown. He denied parking his car in such a way that he would be able to make a quick getaway, saying "If it was just a straightener we wouldn't be in a rush to get out of there."
He said that when Mr Reddin showed him the bat, a small, cheap version of a baseball bat, he presumed he had it "for protection if the others were carrying weapons". But Mr Howard said he told his cousin he wouldn't need it and Mr Reddin got rid of it.
The cross-examination will continue on Monday in front of Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring and a jury of eight men and four women.
