A jury has viewed extensive CCTV footage showing the moments a man was killed instantly when he went under a bus after being punched on Dawson Street in Dublin during evening rush hour traffic.
Eoghan Dudley (28) died almost instantly from “catastrophic and traumatic injuries” after going under the left rear wheel of the bus.
Edward Connors (30) went on trial yesterday accused of Mr Dudley’s manslaughter. The prosecution alleges Mr Connors punched the deceased, causing him to fall backwards off the kerb and under the wheel of the bus.
Mr Connors’s friend Mark Moore was also at the scene and he told the jury he saw the accused hit Mr Dudley before running towards Grafton Street.
Mr Connors, of no fixed abode and formerly of Bearna Park, Sandyford, has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to unlawfully killing Mr Dudley on December 6th, 2012.
Deaf and mute
Mr Connors is deaf and mute as a result of childhood meningitis
and requires the use of sign language interpreters in court.
Senior counsel Tom O’Connell, prosecuting, opening the case, told the jury the accused did not intend to kill Mr Dudley, but Mr Dudley would still be alive if Mr Connors hadn’t punched him.
He said both the accused and the deceased were heroin users, and traces of heroin, methadone and cannabis were found in Mr Dudley’s blood during a postmortem.
Counsel said there would be evidence Mr Connors later told gardaí during interview: “I am sorry about him, it was an accident.”
Mr Moore said that on December 6th, 2012, he and the accused went begging for money to buy drugs. Mr Moore then bought heroin before taking it in a laneway with Mr Connors. They parted company but he later ran into Mr Connors in the Dawson Street area.
He said shortly afterwards a man walked past them and Mr Connors followed him.
He said he saw them argue, before the accused punched the man in the face with a closed fist. “He went straight backwards off the footpath and onto the ground and the bus went over him,” the witness said. “Edward turned around, looked at me and then ran.”
The trial continues.
