A Dublin man accused of murder pulled a knife from his pocket and stabbed the deceased in the chest, a witness in the Central Criminal Court said yesterday.
Mr Michael Doyle (22), of Tonduff Close, Tallaght, Co Dublin, has denied the murder of Mr Mark O'Keeffe (20) on May 30th, 1997, at a football pitch in Tallaght.
A prosecution witness, Mr Craig Morgan, told the jury he was playing football with a group of youths when a fight broke out on the pitch nearby.
Mr Morgan said he saw the accused run away, but he was chased by Mr O'Keeffe and another man who caught up with him and "there was another punch-up".
Mr Morgan said the accused left the field and returned minutes later shouting: "Come on, I'll take youse."
"He walked over and Mark O'Keeffe was standing there. He pulled a knife from his right pocket and stabbed him in the chest and underhand into the stomach," he said.
"Mr Doyle had a hold of him with the right shoulder and as he was stabbing him let him fall down to the ground."
Mr Eamonn Leahy SC had previously told the jury that after a fracas involving a gang of youths attacking Mr Doyle with poles and a knife, the accused fled and returned later with a number of long kitchen knives hidden in his clothing.
Mr Leahy told the jury that according to a Garda statement allegedly made by the accused, the gang of youths spotted Doyle and yelled: "Grab him, grab him."
Another man standing near Mr Doyle approached the accused with his empty hands outstretched while another woman urged the accused to run, Mr Leahy said.
Mr Doyle then allegedly pulled the knives from his clothing, brandishing them where the oncoming man could see them, the court heard.
Mr Leahy told the court the deceased suffered severe injuries as a result of the stabbing, but the fatal injury was a piercing of the right ventricle of the heart.
The accused later took a train to Belfast, a ferry to Glasgow and a train to London, the prosecution alleged.
The trial before Mr Justice Kearns and a jury continues today.