A garda has given evidence at a murder trial that the accused man assaulted him after detectives tried to take fingerprint and DNA samples as part of their investigation.
Gda Brendan O’Donnell was the member in charge at Newbridge Garda Station on April 29th, 2020, when Brian Ibe (23) was brought in to be questioned on suspicion of assaulting 65-year-old Peter Kennedy the previous evening. Mr Kennedy suffered stab wounds and died in Beaumont Hospital from his injuries about two weeks later, on May 12th, 2020.
Gda O’Donnell on Wednesday told prosecution senior counsel Paul Carroll that at 9.20pm, after Mr Ibe’s first interview, he told the accused that his period of detention had been extended by six hours. Three detectives then went to the interview room to take fingerprint and DNA samples from the accused but Gda O’Donnell said he became aware that Mr Ibe had become uncooperative.
Gda O’Donnell went to the interview room where he found Mr Ibe trying to leave, as if he wanted to exit the station. Gda O’Donnell said: “We actually tried to restrain him in order to place him in the cell. He lashed out and I received a punch into the face, just under my left eye and to the side of my nose. I felt immediate pain and bleeding from the nose.”
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The detectives succeeded in getting Mr Ibe to a cell while Gda O’Donnell, who said he was shocked and in pain, was taken to Accident and Emergency at Naas Hospital. He had not suffered any fractures, he said, but had bruises on his nose and under his eye, was in pain for days.
Conor Devally SC, for Mr Ibe, said the defence concedes that the injuries described by the garda are descriptive of harm.
Mr Ibe, of no fixed abode and formerly of Moore Park, Newbridge, Co Kildare, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder of Mr Kennedy between April 28 and May 12, 2020, both dates inclusive, in Newbridge. He also pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to assault causing harm to Garda O’Donnell at Newbridge Garda Station on or about April 29, 2020.
The prosecution contends that the accused was not “within the ingredients” of the special insanity or diminished responsibility verdicts under the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act.
Outlining the proposed evidence last week, Mr Carroll said it is not contested that Mr Ibe carried out the attack and that Mr Kennedy died as a result.
He said that the deceased man, who had just turned 65 and was retired from the probation services, was “a kind person who would help people”.
The mother of the accused, Martha Ibe, had an issue with homelessness and came to live with Mr Kennedy. Her son moved into the same house around September 2019, when he was 19.
Mr Carroll said that problems arose before Christmas 2019, with disputes between Mr Kennedy and the accused, so Mr Ibe left the house and came to Dublin, where he lived at a hostel run by the Peter McVerry Trust in Walkinstown. Counsel said that on April 28th, 2020, the accused left the hostel and got a taxi to Newbridge, where he entered Mr Kennedy’s house through the rear after smashing a window.
Mr Carroll said that Mr Ibe’s mother will give evidence that the accused attacked Mr Kennedy with what she believed was a knife, making “jabbing motions”. She left to get assistance, and when gardaí arrived, they found Mr Kennedy on the floor upstairs with serious head injuries lying in a pool of blood.
Following the assault on Gda O’Donnell, Dr Ashdad Ahmad examined the accused and found that he was not fit for interview. Dr Ahmad told Mr Carroll that Mr Ibe was “very anxious, aggressive and appeared to be in a very agitated state.” The following morning, the doctor found Mr Ibe to be more relaxed and “mentally stable”, so he told gardaí they could continue with the interviews.
Det Gda Seamus Doyle told Mr Carroll that during the interviews that followed, Mr Ibe said he was not in Newbridge on the day of the assault on Mr Kennedy. When asked why he had refused to allow gardaí to take his fingerprint and DNA samples, he said he “did not want to have them done” and when told that it is an offence to refuse to give a DNA sample, he replied: “I won’t be doing it.”
Gardaí showed him stills from CCTV footage that the prosecution alleges show Mr Ibe arriving in Newbridge before the assault. He said the person in the still “could have been anyone” and “I don’t think that’s me”.
Gardaí read extracts of Martha Ibe’s statement, in which she said she witnessed her son assaulting Mr Kennedy. He replied: “I’ve made my statement, and that’s all I have to say; it’s my final word.”
The trial continues on Thursday before Ms Justice Melanie Greally and a jury of six men and six women.
