Murphy case
William Quigley
Mr Quigley gave evidence that Mr Mackey got into the front seat of his taxi and another male and female got into the back after his car was flagged down on Morehampton Road, Donnybrook, at about 2.45 a.m. on the night Mr Murphy died. He said when Mr Mackey got into his car he was "hyper".
"He began describing a fight that had happened that evening and said he got punched by somebody. He then said he kicked that person in the head and he heard his head snap," Mr Quigley said.
He said he could not identify any of the people who were in the car, but Mr Anthony Sammon SC, for Mr Mackey, said they accepted his client had travelled in the front seat of the car.
Mr Quigley added: "I later heard someone had been killed outside the Burlington Hotel and I contacted my brother-in-law, Det Insp Brian Sherry.
"He said if I felt it was important, I should tell the gardaí. I went and made a statement and put down what happened to the best of my recollection.
". . . He was rambling and it got a bit hectic for a while. It was only after I dropped him off that I thought to myself 'What was all that about?'.
"I thought that I should remember where I was stopping with these people."
Mr Sammon contended that Mr Quigley's recollection was a misunderstanding.
Mr Sammon described him as "a dangerous witness" and alleged he had heard "bits of a conversation and put them together to form an answer".
Counsel for the prosecution, Mr Brendan Grehan, said Mr Quigley may have forgotten some minor details about that journey but he had no reason to lie.
Paul Mooney
A student at Waterford Institute of Technology, Mr Mooney was in Dublin on work experience. He told the court he witnessed a youth in a red shirt receive a "flying kick" from a youth in a beige top who then told his friends "'This is great craic'."
When he was shown the beige fleece that Mr Seán Mackey was wearing on the night he said it was similar to the one the person he saw was wearing. He also identified the red shirt Brian Murphy was wearing on the night.
He said the youth in the red shirt had punched the person in the beige top in the face, but he did not react to it. The person in the red top then swung two more punches, but he did not connect with either. He said the person in the beige top "looked pretty smug and confident when he was punched. I got the impression that his reaction indicated that he could take the guy in the red top if he wanted to." Shortly afterwards he saw the youth in red on the ground being kicked by "definitely three people, possibly a fourth".
Fiachra O'Brien
An ex-Clongowes student, O'Brien drank six cans of beer, one pint, five or six bottles of Smirnoff Ice and possibly some shots on the night Brian Murphy died.
"I was drunk . . . I wouldn't say I was very drunk", he told the court. He claimed to recognise Andrew Frame from rugby and "from seeing him around town".
He said he saw Mr Frame throw a punch at Brian Murphy and that Frame was wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt.
However, the court had heard that Mr Frame was wearing a short-sleeved grey shirt. Pressed on this, Mr O'Brien said: "I told the gardaí that at the time I had difficulty describing anybody. I believed the person I saw to be Andrew Frame, but it was dark."
Judge White ruled that his evidence was unsafe because it was not corroborated by any other witness, and Mr O'Brien was the only person who placed Mr Frame in the main group assaulting Mr Murphy.
Judge White said conviction on the manslaughter charge against Frame would be "completely unsafe" if it were based just on O'Brien's evidence.
He directed that Mr Frame be acquitted of manslaughter. The jury later acquitted Mr Frame of violent disorder.
Michael Hussey
A former student of Clongowes Wood and subsequently of Ashfield, he was friendly with Brian Murphy, describing him as "an adopted Clongownian". Mr Hussey admitted he didn't like Andrew Frame. He said they had met in Spain and he could remember Frame "slagging me off" and "calling me a faggot". Frame said that he had met Hussey "once or twice" and "I never once in my entire life called him a faggot".
Mr Hussey said as he and Brian Murphy came out of the disco, Murphy seemed to bump into Seán Mackey. He believed it was accidental, but Murphy and Mackey started "mouthing off" at each other and eventually Murphy hit Mackey. He said Mackey laughed at the punch.
"I went in to try and separate it when a big group just descended on Brian and began to attack him. I was pushed to the side when this happened and I lost sight of Brian. Andrew Frame was part of the group that started attacking Brian, and as he was the closest person to me I grabbed him and punched him on the back of the head about three or four times. When I looked over again, Brian was just lying on the ground and he wasn't moving," Mr Hussey said.
Mr Hussey said after he hit Frame he was hit on the back of the head and on the lip by a "stocky bloke" whom the court was later told was Mr Dermot Laide. Mr Hussey admitted he did not actually see Mr Frame land a blow on Mr Murphy. Mr Frame's counsel, Mr Hugh Hartnett SC, said the case his client had threatened violence was based entirely on Mr Hussey's evidence and it was for the jury to decide if Mr Hussey was a credible witness. Mr Frame was acquitted of all charges.
Brooke McVeigh
Andrew Frame said former Clongowes students jeered and pointed at him outside Club Anabel and he believed it was because they "were annoyed because I was with a girl called Brooke McVeigh, or something like that, while I was on holiday in Spain. She was very friendly with the Clongowes fellows and I understood they were not too happy with me."
Ms McVeigh said she saw Andrew Frame, whom she had known for about two years, being held that night by two other youths. "They were holding him for some reason. Kind of restraining him but maybe that's the wrong word to use. We talked for a minute about college and about his girlfriend at the time ... he appeared to be fine."
Ms McVeigh said Brian Murphy was introduced to her for the first time that night. She saw him again with his friend Mr Michael Hussey out on the Burlington Road after the disco. She said someone stole a milk carton from a nearby milk truck and threw it across the road. Mr Murphy and a few others then started singing "hail to the milk driver". About 10 minutes later she saw Mr Murphy in she believed to be the recovery position and unconscious.
Alan Dalton
Dermot Laide was staying with Alan Dalton on the night Brian Murphy died. When Mr Dalton walked out of Club Anabel he saw about five or six people standing in front of Mr Frame and they seemed to be jeering but he wasn't sure at who. He said he went over to Mr Frame and asked him if he was OK. Mr Murphy then threw a punch at Mr Mackey, he said. He said he then walked away but turned around to see a man in a red jumper throw a punch at Mr Frame. He didn't see it connect but saw his friend stumble forward. He then saw numerous arms being thrown everywhere and the number grew.
He also saw Mr Laide on the edge of the fight with his arms raised, about to throw a punch, also kicking out at somebody's shins a number of times.
Mr Dalton said Mr Des Ryan was standing on the edge of the fight and went in and "threw a punch over the top" before retreating. He said he and Mr Laide were extremely shocked when his father told them the next morning that Mr Murphy was dead. Mr Laide admitted to him that he punched the man in the red jumper and he then showed him a cut on the back of his hand, he said. However, Mr Laide did say he could have got this cut when he punched Mr Hussey.