Two Dublin men accused of murdering a Chinese man and injuring his friend in Temple Bar in 2002 opened yesterday at the Central Criminal Court.
James Harmer (27), of the Abbey Hostel, Bachelors Walk, Dublin, and Noel O'Flaherty (34), of McCormack Gardens, Baldoyle, Co Dublin, have pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ly Minh Luong (50) at Temple Bar, Dublin on August 19th, 2002.
The two have also pleaded not guilty to assault causing harm to Wei Dong (36), at Temple Bar, Dublin, on August 16th, 2002.
Opening the case for the prosecution, Tom O'Connell SC told the court the crime allegedly occurred at the back of the Central Bank in Dublin's city centre at the junction of Fownes St Upper in the early hours of August 16th.
"These two men were assaulted and attacked by James Harmer and Noel O'Flaherty. As a consequence of the assault and attack, one of them died," Mr O'Connell said.
The assault on Mr Ly included "punches and kicking", the court heard.
"Mr [Wei] Dong got a bloodied face in this encounter," he told the jury.
The court will hear evidence which "identifies the accused as the assailants by the fact that traces of the DNA of Mr [Wei] Dong, namely blood, were found on their clothing", Mr O'Connell said.
Mr O'Connell said the two accused were familiar with each other, having worked together as doormen at pubs.
On the night of the attack, Mr Harmer and Mr O'Flaherty were drinking together. "They will say in their admission that while they were tipsy, they were not drunk," Mr O'Connell said. The accused had told gardaí they drank "six or seven pints".
Mr Ly, who was Vietnamese-Chinese, and Mr Wei, a Chinese man, were friends. Mr Wei had come to Ireland in 1999 on a student visa and worked at Mr Ly's Chinese take-away in Ballymun until January 2001.
On the night in question, the two had been socialising with other Chinese at Mr Wei's flat and had then gone on to Club M in the city centre. Around 2am, Mr Wei followed Mr Ly out of the club to urge him to take a taxi instead of driving home. He said they had been drinking "beer and brandy".
Both accused admitted "hitting or punching" the men, said Mr O'Connell.
Mr Harmer allegedly kicked one of the men, after which Mr O'Flaherty "continued his belligerent and aggressive involvement with the two Chinese men", the court heard. Mr Ly was unconscious when an ambulance arrived. He died of head injuries at St James's Hospital three days later.
Through an interpreter, Mr Wei told the court about the events after the two left the nightclub. "I wanted to send him in a taxi," he said. "At that time the two accused insulted us verbally."
"What was said?" Mr O'Connell asked. "They said 'f---ing Chinese'," Mr Wei replied. "Then they came to us and they beat us."
The trial continues before Mr Justice Paul Butler and a jury of three women and nine men.