A man accused of murder jumped up and down with a hook in his hand shouting “I am the king” during a deadly street fight, a court heard on Thursday.
Joseph Joyce is accused of murdering John Paul McDonagh in a violent confrontation that erupted in an urbanization in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh in April 2020.
A relative of the deceased said that while caring for the 18-year-old wounded man while he was bleeding on the street, he heard Joyce’s wife, Ellen, telling her husband to “finish him off.”
Joyce, with an address to Clone Elagh in Derry, was charged with five counts of the incident, including the murder of John McDonagh and the injury of his older brother Gerard McDonagh.
The 32-year-old has denied all five charges and is currently on trial at Dungannon Crown Court, sitting in Belfast.
The dead man’s sister-in-law, Caroline McDonagh, was called to testify and confirmed that she witnessed the incident involving three brothers McDonagh and Joyce at Coolcullen Meadow on the afternoon of Saturday, April 11, 2020.
He said that the day in question had been at the McDonagh’s house in Drumawill Gardens, and that after a fight with Joyce in the back fence, three of his relatives – John, Gerard and Jimmy McDonagh – walked distance from home. in Coolcullen Meadow, where the Joyce family lived.
The jury has already shown CCTV footage of the incident, which shows a street clash between the McDonagh brothers and Joyce.
Ms. McDonagh said that after she and other family members arrived at Coolcullen Meadow, she could see that John had suffered a left leg injury.
He said he “threw” his injured brother-in-law down the street, and when tax lawyer Barra McGrory QC asked him what happened next, he replied, “He was bleeding a lot from his leg.
“When I threw him down the road, I asked him if he was okay. He said, ‘Caroline, I’m gone.’ He put his head on my chest. He fell unconscious and I laid him on the ground.”
He said he stayed with John and helped stop the bleeding while others ran back to the house to look for towels.
When asked if Joyce was still on the street at this stage, Mrs. McDonagh said “yes.”
And when Mr. McGrory asked if he had heard anything, he replied, “Ellen Joyce told Joe Joyce to ‘finish him off.’ He (Joyce) was jumping up and down with a hook in his hand saying.” I am the king. “
From Fahy QC, the lawyer representing Joyce, said the defense rejected Ms. McDonagh’s claims.
After Mr. Fahy told her that this was “not accepted” and that Ellen Joyce “didn’t say that,” the witness replied, “Oh, that’s very, very true. I was there. She was screaming.” , Joe “.
The defense attorney then asked Ms. McDonagh what she was doing at the time, and she replied, “I told Ellen Joyce to stop. I told her she should be ashamed of herself. .
“He was trying to stop an 18-year-old boy from dying bleeding to the ground. Ellen was screaming ‘kill him’ and Joe was jumping up and down with a hook in his hand shouting ‘I’m the king.'”
Despite medical attention at both the scene and South West Acute Hospital, John McDonagh died on April 13, 2020.
The hook, which was confiscated by the PSNI after his death, was taken to court and shown to the judge and jury.
In the audience.
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