A man accused of beating to death Mr Josie Dwyer, a drug addict, told gardai that he saw a group of men who seemed to be "out of their minds" attacking Mr Dwyer with batons and sticks. Mr Mark Cooke said that the attackers were "like wild men" and "totally out of control".
He said he only kicked Mr Dwyer once, and had formerly considered him to be a close personal friend. He also told gardai that he feared the men involved in the attack and had refused to pick them out at an identification parade.
Mr Hugh Byrne (33), Dolphin House, Rialto; Mr Mark Cooke (25), Dolphin House; Mr John Fitzpatrick (35), Fatima Mansions, and Mr William Kenny (55), St Anthony's Road, all Rialto, deny the manslaughter of Josie Dwyer in Basin Lane, Dublin, on May 14th, 1996.
The four have also pleaded not guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm to Alan Byrne and to violent disorder on the same date. The killing is alleged to have occurred after an anti-drugs meeting in the Dolphin's Barn area.
It was the 12th day of the trial before a jury of eight men and three women.
Det Sgt John Doyle said that when Mark Cooke was interviewed by gardai 11 days after the killing he admitted kicking Josie Dwyer, but said he was then swept away by the crowd. He said he had attended an anti-drugs meeting in Dolphin's Barn earlier in the night. Most of the group went on an anti-drugs patrol afterwards.
Some of the group came upon a drug-dealer in the centre of Dolphin's Barn and Mr Cooke prised three small packets of heroin from the man's hand. Later, a number of people hit Alan Byrne, and the patrol followed him and Josie Dwyer to Fatima Mansions. Alan Byrne shouted back at them that he had friends in the flats.
About eight men from the group "hopped" Alan Byrne and began punching and kicking him. Members of the patrol chased Mr Byrne and Mr Dwyer to Basin Lane, where a number of men attacked them with batons and sticks. The attackers "seemed to have lost their minds", Mr Cooke said.
Later, the men involved in the attack threw their weapons on to a nearby roof and walked up Basin Lane. Mr Cooke did not think Alan Byrne and Josie Dwyer were badly injured, but he was worried about Josie Dwyer because he was "like a matchstick".
The trial continues today.