The murder trial of a teenager accused of beating a 14-year-old boy to death with a hammer over a mobile phone has heard from witnesses that the accused admitted the killing.
The 16-year-old accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies murdering Mr Daragh Conroy (14) of Briar Lane, Mountmellick, Co Laois.
Mr Conroy's body was found on waste ground, in an area known as Smith's field on the town's outskirts around 11.00 p.m. on November 11th, 2003.
An 18-year-old roofer, Mr Emmet Houlihan from Mountmellick told the Central Criminal Court , today said the accused told him he had killed Daragh Conroy.
Mr Houlihan told the jury that he "didn't believe" the accused. The witness said the accused allegedly said he called Daragh Conroy "down the fields and hit him eight times with a hammer, the second last blow was fatal".
At 10 p.m. that night, Mr Houlihan said he went along with the accused and three other youngsters "down to see if the body was really there". "I didn't go near the body, we only went half way. I didn't want to see the body," Mr Houlihan said in evidence.
Mr Martin Santry, an 18-year-old painter from Mountmellick, told the jury that the accused allegedly said he "lured Daragh Conroy down the field and hit the back of his head with a hammer a couple of times".
The youngsters including the accused, Mr Santry said, walked 20 yards down the field and turned back. "I thought they were only messing", Mr Santry told the jury.
Daragh Conroy's mother, Ms Patricia Conroy, gave evidence today that she rang her son's phone repeatedly on the night he died.
Ms Conroy said after herself and her husband, Jack, separated, Daragh, who was her only child, lived with her in a flat in Mountmellick.
Before Mrs Conroy left work at 5 p.m. on November 11th 2003, she rang her son on his mobile phone.
"He said he was going to meet some of his friends, I asked him what he wanted for his tea and he said 'sweet and sour'. I said I would get his tablets for him, and that was the last time I spoke to him," a tearful Mrs Conroy said.
When Mrs Conroy got home at 5.30 p.m., she presumed he was still out with his friends. Mrs Conroy then became concerned and rang her son before 6 p.m.
"When I rang, I got the message 'This phone is out of service'. I rang and I rang and I rang. I texted him. I checked his number and I rang again and there was still no answer. The same message kept coming up, 'This phone is out of service'."
Mrs Conroy told the jury Daragh's phone was a Nokia 3510 and that it was gold with a crème back or base. She identified the phone when it was presented in court today.
The trial continues in the Central Criminal Court before Mr Justice Barry White.