An 18-year-old student who died in a violent incident outside Club Anabel in Dublin in August 2000 did not appear to have drunk an excessive amount of alcohol, the State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison, told the Circuit Criminal Court yesterday.
He also found no evidence of drugs when he conducted the post-mortem, Dr Harbison said.
Mr Brian Murphy died from swelling to the brain due to facial injuries he received after he was kicked in the head outside the night club at the Burlington Hotel on August 31st, 2000.
Dr Harbison was giving evidence on day three of the trial of four youths charged with the manslaughter of Mr Murphy.
He told Mr Edward Comyn SC, prosecuting, that Mr Murphy's death was complicated by the inhalation of blood from three cuts just above the upper lip.
Dr Harbison said his external facial injuries, which included a deep abrasion on the chin, cuts to his right eye-socket and to his lower jaw on the left side, were due to blows or kicks from a hard object, possibly a shoe or a boot.
A part of Mr Murphy's brain had been flattened and it was bleeding, and his internal injuries were not consistent with a fall, but were due to an assault.
Mr Murphy also had two groups of bruises on his back and an abrasion on his leg that suggested he fell forward and struck it off a rough surface, he said.
Three men from Co Dublin - Mr Andrew Frame (22), Nutley Lane, Donnybrook; Mr Seán Mackey (23), South Park, Foxrock; and Mr Desmond Ryan (22), Cunningham Road, Dalkey; and Mr Dermot Laide (22), Rossvale, Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter. They have also denied committing violent disorder by using or threatening to use unlawful violence.
Dr Harbison told Mr Patrick Gageby SC, for Mr Ryan, that many of Mr Murphy's muscles had been loosened because of the alcohol he had drunk that night, but he did not appear to have drunk an excessive amount.
Mr Gageby submitted there would be evidence that Mr Murphy had smoked a few joints of cannabis on the night but Dr Harbison said this would be unlikely to loosen the muscle tone and he had found no evidence of any drugs in the deceased's body.
Dr Harbison agreed with Mr Gageby that there were detectable injuries to Mr Murphy's head but pathologically it was difficult to prove what killed him because there was no footprint or sole print on his head.
He added that it was impossible to distinguish which facial injury caused the brain to swell but the abrasions on his face, while severe to the extent that they contributed to his death, did not suggest he was beaten "black and blue".
Mr Paul Cahill, a student who witnessed the fight after leaving the night club, told Mr Comyn he returned to the scene after walking up the street to look for a "chipper" and saw a youth in a wine-coloured T-shirt swinging punches at a taller youth.
He said the youth in the T-shirt appeared to be getting the upper hand but then another youth ran in and punched him on the left side of his face. At that point, he said, "the whole place erupted and fighting broke out all over the place".
He said people starting rushing into different fights and there were about five or six people surrounding the youth in the T-shirt. Eventually the youth fell over and they began to kick him in the head quite hard.
Mr Cahill said he couldn't describe any of the people who were kicking him but the youth who had punched him on the left side of the face was wearing the same "Diesel" jumper as himself, except in a different colour, and he was in the group who were kicking him. When shown a blue "Diesel" jumper with a grey trim, Mr Cahill said it was the same as the one he saw that night.
He said he stood back a bit and after about two minutes a number of people came and broke up the fight. He saw about three people carry the youth in the T-shirt across the road and lay him on the ground.
Mr Cahill told Mr John Edwards SC, for Mr Laide, that the jumper he was wearing was navy with a grey trim.
When Mr Cahill was shown the exhibit again, Mr Edwards informed him that he described it in his statement as dark grey with a beige trim. Mr Edwards further submitted that in his statement Mr Cahill also said the youth in the "Diesel" jumper started fighting with another youth at the entrance to the hotel car park after he had punched the youth in the wine T-shirt.
Mr Cahill admitted he may have been mistaken that he was one of the youths who was part of the group kicking the person on the ground. The trial continues.